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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHJVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notaa  tachniquas  at  bibliograpliiquat 


Tha  inatituta  haa  attamptad  to  Obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographically  uniqua. 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantiy  ehanga 
tha  uaual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


□   Colourad  covara/ 
Couvartura  da  coulaur 


rn   Covara  damagad/ 


D 


Couvartura  andommagia 


Covara  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  raataurte  at/ou  palliculAa 


r~n   Covar  titia  miaaing/ 


□ 


La  titra  da  couvartura  manqua 

Colourad  mapa/ 

Cartas  gtographiquas  9n  coulaur 

Colourad  Ink  (i.a.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  biaua  ou  noira) 


I      I   Colourad  plataa  and/or  illuatrationa/ 


Planchas  at/ou  illustrations  9n  coulaur 


C 


Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
Ralii  avac  d'autras  documants 


S^ 


ight  binding  may  causa  shadowa  or  diatortion 
along  intarior  margin/ 
La  re  liura  sarria  paut  causar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
distortion  la  long  da  la  marga  intiriaura 


D 


D 


Blank  laavas  addad  during  rastoration  may 
appaar  within  tha  taxt.  Whanavar  poaaibla.  thaaa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
II  aa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagas  blanchaa  ajouttea 
lors  d'una  raatauration  apparaissant  dans  la  taxta. 
mais,  lorsqua  cala  Atait  possibia,  cas  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  iti  filmAas. 

Additional  commanta:/ 
Commantairaa  supplAmantairas: 


L'Institut  a  microfilmi  la  maillaur  axamplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  it*  poaaibla  da  aa  procurer.  Las  details 
da  cat  axamplaira  qui  sont  paut-Atra  uniquas  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographiquo,  qui  pauvant  mdif  iar 
una  imaga  raoroduita,  ou  qui  pauvant  axigar  una 
modification  dana  la  mAthoda  normala  da  f ilmaga 
aont  indiqute  ci-dassous. 


T 
t( 


I     I   Colourad  pagat/ 


Pagaa  da  coul«ur 

Pagaa  damagad/ 
Pagaa  andommagiaa 

Pagaa  raatorad  and/oi 

Pagas  raatauriaa  at/ou  pallicuiias 

Pagaa  discolourad.  stainad  or  foxai 
Pagas  dicolorias,  tachatias  ou  piquies 

Pagas  detached/ 
Pagas  ditachies 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

QualitA  inigale  de  i'impresslon 

Includes  supplementary  matarit 
Comprend  du  material  supplimentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seuie  Edition  disponible 


I — I   Pagaa  damaged/ 

I     I   Pagaa  raatorad  and/or  laminated/ 

r7~>4*ag*s  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
[}^  P 

I     I   Pages  detached/ 

r~~L/Showthrough/ 

I      I   Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I     I   Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I — I   Only  edition  available/ 


7 
P 

0 

fl 


C 

fa 

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s 

0 

fi 

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Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Lea  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  it6  filmies  A  nouveau  de  fa^on  d 
obtanir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/  . 
Ce  document  est  filmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-deaaoua. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

7 

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12X 

16X 

20X 

a4X 

28X 

32X 

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Th«  copy  fllmad  h«r«  has  b««n  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  o«neroeity  off: 

York  University 
Toronto 
Soon  Library 

The  imagee  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
off  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exemplaire  film4  ffut  reproduit  grice  i  la 
gtnArositA  da: 

York  Univtraity 
Toronto 
Scott  Library 

Lee  imagee  suivantea  ont  4t4  reprodultes  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nettet*  de  rexemplaire  ffilm*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  lee  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  ffront  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Lss  exemplalres  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  eet  ImprimAe  sont  filmis  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminent  soit  par  la 
derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impresslon  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  las  eutres  exemplalres 
originaux  sont  filmto  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  una  empreinte 
d'impresslon  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminent  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  fframe  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »•  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  Y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  das  symboies  sulvants  apparattra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbols  •-»•  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  ▼  signlfie  "FIN". 


IMaps,  platee,  charts,  etc.,  mey  b9  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  pianches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  itre 
filmis  A  dee  taux  de  rMuction  difffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichi,  11  est  ffiimi  A  partir 
de  I'angle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  i  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  baa,  en  prenant  Is  nombre 
d'Images  nicessaire.  Las  diagrammes  sulvants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


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PROTESTANT    REFORMATION 

-^^M  ^  ^^  IRELAND, 


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AMD  THE 


SUCCESSFUL. RESISTANCE  OF  THAT  PEOPLE. 

(TtME:  1640-1880.) 
•  BY 

THOMAS   DARCY    M'GEE, 

AUTHOR  OF  **  A  HISTORY  OF  IRISH  SETTLERS  IX  KORTH  AMBRIOA  ; "  "  LITM 

CF  Tira    IRISH    WRITERS ;  "    "  ^IFB    OF    ART.  M'MVRROQR  J  " 

"HISTORICAL  SICETCHE8  OF  o'COKMiiLL  AND  HIS 

FRIENDS,"   ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC. 


-J"**'-, 


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I'M 


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■"1  -' 

* 


**  For  they  will  deliver  you  up  in  councils,  and  they  will  scourge  you  in  their  R)'na|o||aM: 
"  And  vou  shall  be  brought  before  governors,  and  before  kings,  IBr  my  Mike,  for  a  teitl- 
mony  to  then  and  to  the  Gentiles."  —  St.  Matthew  :  Chap.  ,x.  VerMe  17, 18. 


BOSTON:  Ct' 

PUBLISHED    BY    PATRICK    DON 

FRANKLIN  STREET. 
1853. 


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Entered  aooording  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  186%  by 
i  PATRICK    DONAHO£, 

In  the  Clerk's  Offioe  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


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RT.  RfiV.  JOHN   BERNARD  FITZPATRICK,  D.D., 


THIBD  BISHOP  OF  BOSTON, 


AB  AX  INADEQUATB  EXPRESSION  OF  FB0F0U2TD  ESTEEM 
if  AND   VENERATION, 


8))(8  Tolume 


IS  YBBT  BBSFBCTPVLLT  DBDIOATBD 


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CONTENTS. 


Fnfaoe 11 


BOOK  I 


CHAPTBE   J. 

The  wtly  Irish  Church  and  State.  ~  The  MUetiang.— pPmiiJisin.*^ 
St.  Patrick.  —  The  Apostolic  Age.  -'•The  Danish  Ii»ywioiu.  <*-  Briui 
at  Clontarft  —  St.  Mi^achi.  —  The  'Norm(uui  in  Ireland.  -^  The  War 
of  Baces.  -^  Irish  Charch  in  the  Middle  Ag^g.    , t    |9 

CHAPTER    II. 


Henry  .VUI.  of  England  elected  King  of  Ireland. — Antecedents  of  tihb 
^Election.  —  The  Clergy  not  consulted. — The  Chiefs  canvassed  indi- 
vidually. —  After  the  Election.  —  Apostate  3ishops.  —  Confiscation, 
Sacrilege,  and  Reformation 80 

CHAPTER    III. 


King  Edward  and  Queen  Mary.—  Cranmer's  Att^mpta  to  pstaUish  ib9 
Reformation  in  Ireland.  —  The  first  Catholic  Insurxeetion.-^  Acces- 
sion of  Queen  Mary. —  Catholic  Reaction. —  Restoration  of  thf 
Irish  Bishops.— 'Death  of  Queen  Mary.  —  State  of  Parties.  .    .    ,    .46 

CHAPTER    ly. 

The  Irish  Catholic  Strength  at  the  Accession  of  Elizudbeth.— Tffft 
Oaths  enacted.  "*- First  Catholic  ConfjBderacy.  -^  The  Inannection  of 
1* 


6 


CONTENTS. 


the  Desmoudi.  —  Confiscation  of  Moniter.  —  The  Fint  M\rt7n.  — 
The  Ulster  Frincea.  —  Second  Catholic  Confedaration. — Alliance 
with  Spain.  — Battle  of  Kiniale 55 


CHAPTER    V. 

Stnarti  succeed  to  the  Throne.  —  Endowment  of  Trinity  College.— 
Usher  a  .d  O'Daniel.  —  Confiscation  of  Ulster.  —  "  Recusant "  Partj. 
—  Charles  I.  —  A  new  Persecution.  —  Strafford's  Yiceroyalty.  — 
Confiscation  of  Connaught  —  The  School  of  Wards.  —  The  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant 85 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Presbyterians  and  Puritans  in  Ireland. — Extermihation  their 
Policy.  —  Ulster  Rising  of  1641.  — New  Catholic  Confederacy 
founded  by  Rory  O'Moore.  —  Oath  of  Confederation.  —  General 
Insurrection.  —  Catholic  Legislation.  —  Peters  and  Jerome.  —  Owen 
Roe  O'Neil. — Ormond.  —  Cromwell  in  Ireland. — The  Puritan  Penal 
Laws.  —  Death  of  Cromwell 99 


BOOK  II. 


CHAPTER   1.  N 

Bestoration  of  Charles  n. — Act  of  Settlement.  —  Ormond's  Attempt 
to  Gallicanize  the  Irish  Church.  —  Synod  of  1666.  —  Lord  Berkeley's 
Viceroyalty.  — The  New  Test  Act.  — "The  Popish  Plot."  — Mar- 
tyrdom of  Primate  Plunkett.  —  Assassination  of  Count  Reldmond 
O'Hanlon 139 


CHAPTER    II. 


Accession  of  James  n.  —  Talbot,  Lord  Deputy.  —  Irish  Soldiers  in 
England.  —  Invasion  of  William  III.  —  Irish  Parliament  of  1686.  — 


CONTENTS. 


n 


»  No  Popery  "  Rioti  in  Lon  Jon.  —  **  Th«  Irish  Night"  -^  The  War 
in  IieUnd. .158 


CHAPTER    III. 

Reign  of  William  HI.  —  Violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick.  —  Pro- 
scription of  the  Biihops  and  Clergy.  —  Further  Conflicationa  of 
Catholic  Property 165 


CHAPTER    ir. 

Queen  Anne's  Reign.  —  "  Act  to  discourage  the  Growth  of  Popery.** 
—  Sir  Toby  Butler  heard  at  the  Bar  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament  — 
His  Character.  —  Immense  Emigration.  —  Priest  Hunting.  —  Pri- 
mate McMahon 171' 


CHAPTER    V. 

Irish  Catholics  abroad.  —  Irish  Colleges  at  Louyain,  Paris,  Rome,  Lis- 
bon, &c.  —  Irish  Soldiers  in  Foreign  Service.  —  The  Irish  Brigade 
in  France. — How  their  Reputation  reacted  on  England 191 


CHAPTER    VI. 
The  Jacobites  and  the  Irish  Catholics.  —  The  Stuarts  consulted  at 

0 

Rome  on  the  Appointment  of  Irish  Bishops.  ^  The  Rapparees. — 
The  Wandering  Ministrels  and  **  Newsmen."      806 


M 


BOOK   IIL 


CHAPTER    I. 


Irish  Parties  in  the  Reign  of  George  II.—'*  The  Patriots."  —  "  The 
Castle  Party."  —  Increase  of  the  Catholics.  —  Establishment  of 
Charter  Schools.  —  Swift's  Portraits  of  the  Protestant  Prelates.  — 
Battle  of  CuUoden. —  Change  of  Catholies' Tactics S15 


r<  I 

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!'.! 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   II. 


( 1    ' 


State  of  Ireland  at  the  AeccMion  '  f  George  III.  •—  Pablications  on  the 
Catholic  Question.  —  The  Great  Famine.  —  Catholic  Committee* 
for  petitioning  Parliament.-^  Proposed  Relief  Bill  of  1 768. — Rumored 
Frendi  Invanion.^Agrarianism.  —  Martyrdom  pf  Father  Nicholaa 
Sheehy  and  his  Friends.— Spread  of  Secret  Societies.— The  Meth- 
odists in  Ireland. '    ....;... 881 


CHAfVeR    III. 

Second  Oatholic  Committee  formed.  —  Concessions  in  1774  and  1778. 

—  Secession  of  "Lord  Kenmare  and  the  Sixty^Eight."  —  John 
Eeogh,  Leader  of  the  Catholics.  —  Management  of  the  Committee.  — 
Cooperation  of  Edmund  Burke. — General  Discussion -of  Catholic 
Principles  in  Ireland  and  England.  -^Arthur  O'Leary.  —  Burke  and 
Tone. —  London  Riots  of  1780.  —  Irish  Catholic  Convention  elected. 

—  Their  Delegates  presented  to  George  III.,  and  demand  Total 
Emancipation.— Relief  Bill  of  1793.— Political  Reacftion.  •  .    •    . 


344 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Maynooth  College  founded.  —  Union  of  Defenders  and  United  Irish* 
men.  —  Insurrection  of  1798. —  Falsehoods  concerning  Catholics 
engaged  in  it.  —  Proposed  Legislative  Union.  —  Pitt  and  the  Bish- 
ops.—  Tl^e  Act  of  Union;  its  Results  on  the  Catholic  Cause.  .    .    .  878 


CHAPTER    V.  ^ 

Catholic  Question  in  the  Imperial  Parliament. — Pitt. — Fox.  —  Oren- 
yille.  —  Catholic  Committee  of  1805. — Its  Dissolution.  —  Catholic 
Board  formed.  —  Veto  Controversy.  —  Dissolution  of  the  Board.  — 
Lethargy  of  the  Catholics.  —  State  of  Ireland,  A.  D.  1820.   ....  290 


1 1 


CHAPTER    VI. 


Visit  of  George  IV.  to  Ireland.  — The  Catholic  Question  in  Parlia- 
ment —  Formation  of  the  Catholic  Association.  —  Its  Prctgress  and 
Power.  —  The  Catholics  before  Parliament  in  Person. — Foreign 
Sympathy ;  Aid  from  the  Irish  in  America.  —  The  "  Second  Refor* 


CONTENTS.  *      0 

motion."  —  Q«nenl  Catholic  Controveny.— AdroeatM  of  Emwiei- 
pation  of  the  Freu.  —  Election  of  O'Connell  to  PMrliament.  —  Relief 
Bill  of  1829.— RelatioiM  of  the  Church  and  "the  Eitablishment,** 
A.  D.  1880.  — Conduioii 911 

APPENDIX. 

I    The  aril  and  Military  Articles  of  Limerick, 848 

n.    The  Irish  Lords'  Protest  against  the  Act  "  to  conflnn  the  Arti* 

desof  Limerick,"  A.  D.  1702, 358 

m.    Petition  and  List  of  Delegates  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,   .    .    854 

lY.    The  Pope's  Letter  on  the  Subject  of  the  Veto, 863 

V.    Carey's  Analysis  of  the  Alleged  Massacre  of  1641,    ....    871 


11 


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Every  sect  of  reformers  known  |n  the  British  empire 
has  attempted  to  propagate  itself  in  Ireland,  and  ha9 
failed.  The  Anglican  church  is  as  far  from  the  hearts 
of  that  people  as  ever;  the  Presbyterian  denomination 
has  hardly  retained  the  natural  increase  of  its  Scottish 
founders.  In  Ulster  it  still  flourishes ;  but  we  must 
remember  that  it  was  transplanted  in  its  maturity  to 
that  confiscated  soil.  It  did  not  grow  there ;  it  has  noit 
spread  beyond  that  privileged  and  ei^cluslve  province. 

The  Independents^  planted  by  Cromwell;  the  Q,u9r 
kers,  introduced  by  Penn ;  the  XiUtheranS}  endowed  by 
William ;  the  Huguenots^  patroniafed  by  Anne  apd  tl^ 
Georges ;  the  Methodists,  organized  by  the  Wesleys  and 
Whitfield '^  all  have  been  tried  in  Irish  soil,  and  all 
have  failed. 

In  Ireland,  the  crown  has  been  for  Protestantism;  the 
legislature,  the  only  university,  the  army  and  navy,  f^ 
civil  offices  until,  as  it  were,  yesterday,  have  bd^'  Mh 
served  for  the  support  of  '*  the  Protestant  interest''  Not 
only  all  the  privileges  and  all  the  forces  have  been  on 
that  side,  but  even  sacred  rights,-* such  as  fire^edom  of 
worship,  of  education,  and  of  proprietorship}^'^  until  the 


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PREFACE. 


dose  of  the  last  century,  have  been  all  denied  <  by  law  to 
the  Cathplics.  Protestantistn  had  every  thing  its  own 
way—- the  crown,  the  laws,  the  taxes,  forces,  schools, 
estates,  and  churches.  By  every  human  calculation,  the 
^victory  would  be  declared  to  the  strong.  Yet  it  is  quite 
otherwise  in  this  instance. 

How  a  poor  and  insulated  peasantry  could  have  kept 
their  ancient  faith,  against  such  odds,  for  three  hundred 
years,  is  matter  of  wonder  to  those  who  are  not  Cath- 
olics. To  those  who  are,  it  is  a  source  of  inquiry  and 
reflection  full  of  edification  and  encouragement.  A  book 
in  which  the  facts  of  this  contest  would  be  set  down 
briefly  and  intelligibly  has  long  been  wanted.  .Thirty 
years  ago,  Charles  Butler  considered  it  "the  great  literary 
desideratum ''  in  our  language ;  and  a  desideratum  it  has 
remained. 

If  it  is  important  to  have  such  a  book  published,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  compile  it,  even  in  summary  style.  In 
Ireland,  this  must  have  been  felt,  where  so  many  able 
Catholic  writers  have  declined  it,  either  from  the  great- 
ness of  the  labor  or  the  incompleteness  of  the  authori- 
ties. In  America,  far  removed  from  all  who  have  made 
any  portion  of  the  subject  their  special  study,  with  such 
authorities  as  are  to  be  had  or  imported  here',  I  have 
found  the  work  very  arduous  indeed.  For  some  facts  I 
have  had  chiefly  to  rely  on  a  large  collection  of  manu- 
script notes,  made  partly  in  Dublin  libraries  and  partly 
in  that  of  the  British  Museum  in  the  years  1846  and 

1847; 

1?he  memoirs  on  which  I  have  chiefly  relied  are  of 
three  classes :  — 

L  Contemporary  Catholic  narratives  of  the  sixteenth, 
stventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries— •such  as  <*The 


PREFAOB. 


13 


Four  Masters/'  Bishop  O'Daly's  Histories,  O^Sullivan's, 
Bishop  French's  Tracts,  the  Jacobite  Pamphlets  and 
Memoirs,  Hibernia  Dominicana^  and  Father  O'Leary's 
Letters. 

II.  Publications  on  the  Penal  Code  and  Catholic 
Relief  Bills  during  the  period  of  agitation ;  Curry's  Civil 
Wars ;  Burke's  Letters  and  Speeches ;  0*Conor's  Pam-. 
phlets;  Brookes's  Letters ;  Scully's  Digest  of  the  Penal 
Laws ;  William  Parnell's  4-Pology  fo'  the  Irish  Catho- 
lics; Sir  Henry  Parnell's  History  of  the  Penal  Laws; 
Petitions  and  Reports  of  the  successive  Catholic  Com- 
mittees; the  Debates  in  the  Irish  and  English  Parlia- 
ments; and  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  both 
governments  as  far  as  it  relates  to  Ireland. 

III.  County  and  City  Histories  —  such  as  those  of 
Dublin,  Armagh,  Belfast,  Cork,  Limerick,  and  Galway; 
Biographies  of  the  chief  actors  for  and  against  the 
church  —  Henry  VIIL,  Usher,  Strafford,  Ormond,  Crom- 
well, Clarendon,  Walpole,  Chesterfield,  George  III,  Pitt, 
and  Castlereagh,  of  the  Protestant  side ;  Hugh  O'Neil, 
Bishop  French,  Primate  Plunkett,  James  II.,  Patrick 
Sarsfield,  Charles  O' Conor,  Edmund  Burke,  Henry 
Grattan,  Wolfe  Tone,  John  Eeogh,  Bishop  Doyle,  and 
Daniel  O' Council,  of  the  Catholic  side. 

From  these  authorities  I  have  endeavored  to  extract 
all  the  essential  facts  in  relation  to  <Hhe  Reformation" 
in  Ireland.  \ 

I  am  deeply  sensible,  after  all  the  care  and  time  I 
could  bestow  on  it,  how  far  the  work  is  from  what  it 
might  be  made  in  abler  hands.  Yet  even  as  a  substitute 
for  a  better,  it  is  well  it  should  go  forth.  One  half  the 
Irish  race  are  in  America,  and  need  to  have  ^  this  His- 
tory by  them.    If  not  in  t^s  way,  in  what  other  shall 

9 


X4 


PUBFACE. 


they  be  shown  the  eost  at  which  our  fathers  purchased 
that  ^*  pearl  beyond  price,"  the  religion  which,  through 
the  grace  of  Gk>d,  we  still  retain  ?  Here  are  no  wayside 
crosses  or  empty  belfries,  no  Cromwellian  breaches,  no 
soil  fruitful  of  traditions,  to  keep  alive  in  their  souls  the 
story  of  their  heroic  and  orthodox  ancestors.  For  the 
monuments  and  memorials  that  abound  in  Erin,  this 
little  book  is  the  only  substitute  I  can  offer  them.  It 
will  be,  I  trust,  an  acceptable  offering  to  those  for  whom 
it  is  chiefly  intended. 

This  book  I  call  "A  History  of  the  Attempts"  to 
establish  the  <<  Reformation "  m  Ireland,  because  it  re- 
lates each  attempt  and  failure.  The  variety  and  energy 
of  these  efforts  may  be  well  imagined  from  an> abstract. 

I.  Attempts  under  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  VL  to 
intimidate  the  existing  hierarchy,  by  punishing  as  trea- 
son the  refusal  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy ;  the  con- 
fiscation of  religious  possessions,  and  the  war  upon  the 
shrines,  schools,  and  relics  of  the  saints. 

IL  Attempts  under  Elizabeth,  by  armies  and  whole- 
sale confiscations,  as  in  the  case  of  Desmond ;  by  the 
endowment  of  Trinity  College,  and  the  'theory  of  Usher, 
that  the  early  Irish  church  was  Protestant 

III.  Attempt  of  James  I.,  by  colonizing  Ulster  with 
Presbyterians,  the  act  of  conformity,  and  the  exclusion 
of  Catholics  from  the  Irish  parliament. 

IV.  Attempt  under  Charles  I.,  by  ordering  all  priests 
and  Jesuits  to  leave  the  kingdom;  by  the  commission 
for  inquiring  into  defective  titles ;  by  the  enlargement 
of  the  school  of  king's  wards. 

V.  Attempts  of  the  Puritans,  by  the  solemn  league 
and  covenant;  by  the  Anglo-Scotch  invasion ;  by  trans- 


PREFACE. 


15 


portation  to  Barbadoes ;  by  martial  law ;  by  the  impor'^ 
tation  of  Independents,  Brownists,  Anabaptists,  &c. 

VI.  Attempt  under  Charles  II.,  by  the  act  of  settle- 
ment, and  swearing  Ireland  into  '<  the  Popish  plot" 

VIL  Attempts  under  William  and  Anne,  by  banish- 
ing the  Catholic  soldiery,  and  colonizing  German  Prot- 
estants; by  violating  the  treaty  of  Limerick;  by  en- 
larging the  penal  laws  into  a  complete  code. 

VIIL  Attempts  under  the  present  dynasty,  by  state 
schools  and  a  system  of  proselytism,  to  effect  what 
confiscation,  war,  and  controversy  failed  to  effect  in 
earlier  times. 

The  work  closes  at  the  year  of  our  Lord  1830.  It 
might  have  been  continued  down  to  the  present  time, 
when  we  find  new  penal  enactments  added  fo  the  stat- 
utes of  Westminster,  new  proselytizing  i^ocieties  ranging 
through  ^Ireland,  a  successor  of  St.  Patrick  assailed  with 
all  the  forces  of  British  diplomacy,  and  a  Catholic  de- 
fence Association  sitting  in  Dublin.  But  remembering 
the  advice  of  Ecclesiasticus,  ^<  Judge  no  man  while  he 
is  living,''  the  narrative  closes  at  1830. 

Ahericait  Celt  Office, 
Buffaby  1852. 


' 

/ 

. ^ 

s 

\ 

* 

w 

- 

- 

BOOK  I. 


A.   D.  1540   TO    1660. 


»    '■' 


<:| 


TBOM  THB 


I  ELECTION  OF  HENRY  VIII.,  AS  KING  OF  IRELAND, 


UNTIL  THX 


DEATH  OF  OLIVER  CROMWELL. 


r:J- 


-    i: 


l-F 


,      I: 


THE  EAR 
ISIL-I 

SIGNS. 
IN  IRE 

mocL 

The 
The  pic 
and  sup 
She  has 


( 


as  yet, 
science^ 
guard  — 
of  mirai 
ages,  an 
.  Irelan 
causes, 
rather^'tl 
ic£vl  pur] 
rendered 
sion ;  h 
ment  oi 
tribe,  dei 
or  Miles 
in  her  de 
derive  tl 
never  W( 
tradition 
northern 
tinent,  g 
from  the 
them  to 
on  shore 
land  and 


<   ■    ; 


OHAFTER    I.    « 


THE  EABLT  IBI8H  CHURCH  AND  STATE.  —THE  MILESIANS.— DBUID- 
I81L-ST.  PATRICK.— THE  AFOSTOUC  AGE.  — THE  DANISH  INYA- 

SIGNS. -BRIAN   AT  CLONTARF ST.   MALACHL-THB  NORMANS 

IN  IRELAND.  — THE  WAR  OF   RACES IRISH   CHURCH  IN  THE 

MIDDLE  AGESi 

The  history  of  lieh  ;id  is  as  stormy  as  its  situation. 
The  pier  of  Western  Europe,  she  braves  the  Atlantic, 
and  supports  the  furious  violence  of  its  winds  and  waves. 
She  has  been  wasted  for  the  weal  of  Christendom  ;  and 
as  yet,  Christendom  has  not  studied,  according  to  con- 
science, to. do  justice  to  the  history  of  her  western  safe- 
guard— a  history  which  is  full  of  suffering,  of  devotion^ 
of  miracles,  and  of  good  fruits,  ripening  through  many 
ages,  and  scattered  throughout  the  world. 

Ireland  has  been  mainly  influenced  by  three  natural 
causes.  Her  insular  situation  has  made  her  a  spectator, 
rather^tharf  a  party  to  European  combinations  for  polit- 
ical purposes ;  while  Elurope  was  inflamed,  Ireland  was 
rendered  cool  by  the  fearful  spectacle  of  another's  pas- 
sion ;  her  story  has  been  a  standing  mirror  and  com- 
ment on  continental  history.  Peopled  by  an  Asiatic 
tribe,  deriving,  through  Spain,  the  character  of  the  Scotii, 
or  Milesians,  has  been  the  second  remarkable  influence 
in  her  destiny.  Prom  them  the  mixed  race,  called  Irish, 
derive  their  Oriental  imagination  and  idealism;  they 
never  were,  and  never  can  be,  materialists ;  their  habits, 
traditions,  standards,  are  all  Asiatic.  Unlike  the  other 
northern  and  western  nations,  they  did  not  cross  the  con- 
tinent, gathering  an  alloy  by  the  way  ;  their  galleys  shot 
from  the  shore  of  Spain,  and  their  Chaldean  craft  led 
them  to  that  remote  island,  where  they  drew  their  boats 
on  shore,  and  planted  their  banners.  The  relation  of  Ire- 
land and  Britain  is  the  third  influence,  which  penetrates 


^>'r 


I 

I 


20 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


the  history  of  this  people,  especially  in  the  modern 
period. 

The  growth  of  a  Christian  church  and  state  in  the 
Island  of  the  Scotii  affords  a  highly-interesting  subject 
to  the  student  of  national  life  and  character.  It  is 
necessary  to  indicate  here  the  facts  of  that  general  con- 
version. 

"We  know  the  Druidical  form  of  paganism  to  have 
been  a  refined  and  elaborate  system.  Of  all  the  false 
systems  known  to  us,  it  approached  nearest  to  the  Greek 
mythology.  Thie  elements  were  deified,  and  the  hours 
and  seasons  dedicated  to  their  appropriate  gods.  The 
crystal  wells  were  worshipped  as  the  abodes  of  pure 
spirits  ;  a  future  state  of  being  was  believed  to  exist, 
under  the  western  waves,  where  the  Tiema  rCoge^  or  Lord 
of  the  Ever- Young,  dwelt,  and  with  him  heroes,  in  end- 
\  less  enjoyment.  Through  the  island  there  were  sacred 
groves,  dedicated  with  mysterious  rites,  and  guarded 
by  severe  penalties  from  profanation.  Certain  trees  and 
plants,  as  the  oak,  the  ash,  elm,  and  hazel,  were  held 
sacred;  the  mistletoe  and  vervain  were  gathered  un- 
der certain  planetary  auspices,  according  to  a  pre- 
scribed ceremonial.  The  winds  and  stars  wei^e  deities, 
solemnly  invoked  and  sworn  by.  Crom  was  jthe  Jupiter, 
Briga,  or  Bridget,  the  Muse,  and  Mananan  MoLir  (son 
of  the  sea)  the  Neptune  of  the  Celtic  system.*  Of 
their  ceremonies  and  sacrifices  we  know  nothing  that  is 
certain.  Annually  they  had  two  great  religious  festivals, 
at  spring  time  and  in  harvest.  Their  ritual  was  preserved 
.  in  obscure  rhymes,  their  hierarchy  an  hereditary  order,  at 
once  poets,  judges  of  the  civil  law,  and  priests.     They 

*  Crom^  the  thunderer,  or  fire  god,  is  a  'vrell-known  character  to  Irish 
readers.  The  Driiid's  idtars,  throughout  Ireland,  are  still  called  Crom- 
leaches,  or  Crom's  stones.  In  the  "  glossary"  of  Cormac,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  (a  ivork  of  the  tenth  century,)  there  is  this  Christian-liker  ac- 
count of  the  son  of  Lir :  "  Mananan  McLir  was  a  famous  merchant  that 
lived  in  the  Isle  of  Manan.  He  was  the  best  navigator  that  lived  in  the 
sea  in  the  west  of  the  world.  He  used  to  ascertain  by  heaven-study, 
that  is,  observation  of  the  heavens,  thfe  duration  of  calm  and  storm,  and 
the  duration  of  either  of  these  two  periods."  Quoted  in  Appendix  to 
the  Irish  version  of  Nenniun.  Dublin :  Arohseological  Society's  Publica- 
tions,  1348. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


31 


somewhat  resembled  the  Egyptian  prieethood ;  tbey  bad 
separate  estates,  dedicated  to  their  maintenance.  Many 
good  and  wise  pagan  princes  bad  obeyed  and*  upheld 
this  system.  Tighemmass  innovated  upon  its  early  sim- 
plicity, for  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  idols ;  Tuatbal, 
who  was  known  to  Agricola  and  Tacitus,  restored  dis- 
cipline, and,  perhaps,  added  something  of  the  formulas 
he  had  learned  during  his  long  exile  in  Britain  and 
Rome.     The  Druidicaf  families  were  a  powerful  party. 

The  numbers  and  energy  of  the  islanders,  even  m 
those  early  ages,  were  remarkable.  They  had  colonized 
the  Isle  of  Man  in  the  third  century.  In  the  fourth, 
they  had  given  a  colony  to  Scotland,  which  afterwards 
consolidated  and  ruled  that  kingdom ;  in  the  fifth,  they 
had  effected  settlements  in  Anglesea  and  Wales,  from 
which,  afj^er  twenty-nine  years*  possession,  they  were 
forcibly  expelled  by  Gassawallawn,  the  lonff-handed, 
famous  in  Welsh  history.  About  the  same  time,  they 
extended  their  expeditions  into  Gaul,  their  path  being 
made  clear  through.  Britain  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Roman  legions  for  the  defence  of  the  empire.  In  406, 
Nial  of  the  hostages  perished  in  the  Loire ;  and  in  430, 
Dathi,  his  successor,  died  near  Sales,  In  Piedmont. 
Their  habitual  route  was  from  Chester  to  Dover,  along 
the  Gwyddelinsarn,  or  "road  of' the  Irish,"  which  long 
after  became  King  Alfred's  boundary  between  the  Danes 
and  Saxons,  in  Britain. 

In  the  year  of  our  Lord  431,  Pope  Celestine  sent  to 
Ireland  St.  Patrick.  That  wise  and  holy  bishop  knew 
well  the  people  he  had  to  teach  and  baptize.  He 
adopted  all  their  natural  rites,  which  were  in  themselves 
innocent.  He  blessed  their  worshipped  wells ;  he  per- 
mitted their  spring  and  autumn  festivals,  but  converted 
them  to  the  honor  of  the  saints ;  he  followed  in  his 
ecclesiastical  arrangements  the  civil  divisions  of  the  isl- 
and ;  he  destroyed  the  ceremonial,  but  retained  the  his- 
torical writings  of  the  Druids.  He  made  seven  circuits 
of  the  island,  the  first  six  on  foot,  and  is  said  to  have 
ordained  three  hundred  bishops  and  seven  thousand 
priests.     The  poet  with  his  harp,  and  the  prince  with 


92 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


' 


his  power,  he  enlisted ;  he  called,  with  supernatural'  in- 
sight, his  apostles  from  all  orders  of  people  —  the  con- 
verted Druid,  the  peasant  from  the  plough,  the  smith 
from  the  forge,  and  the  fisherman  trom  his  boat;  he 
found  a  vocation  and  a  place  for  all.  He  died  towards 
the  close  of  the  centurv,  (A.  D.  493,)  leaving  Christianity 
in  all  the  high  and  lowly  places  of  Erin ;  having  seen 
paganism,  if  not  entirely  destroyed,  mortally  wounded, 
and  driven  into  solitary  places,  where  yet  a  while  it  con- 
.    spired  in  vain  for  restoration. 

The  three  centuries  following  dt.  Patrick's  death  make 
the  golden  age  of  the  Irish  church.  The  spiritual  order 
was  exalted  to  an  uncommon  degree  —  exempted  from 
taxes  and  from  service  in  war ;  endowed  with  the  col- 
lective gifts  of  tribes  and  princes ;  recruited  from  all 
classes,  honored  by  all.  While  the  Gothic  tempest  was 
-  trampling  down  the  classic  civilization,  Ireland  provi- 
dentially became  the  nursery  of  saints,  and  the  refuge 
of  science.  Her  two  most  ardent  passions  then  were  to 
learn  and  to  teach.  In  Iceland,  th^  Orkneysi  Scotland, 
Britain,  Gaul,  Germany,  even  in  Italy,  her  missionaries 
were  every  where,  transplanting,  in  the  loosened  soil,  the 
pagan  tree  of  knowledge  and  the  Christian  tree  of  life. 
As  the  Goths  conquered  Rome,  the  Celts  conquered  the 
Goths.  Where  the  barbarian  was  strongest,  there  the 
Christian  islanders  won  their  highest  victories.  The 
Roman  martyrology  gives  us,  for  those  three  centuries, 
three  hundred  saints  —  a  canonized  soldier  of  Christ 
for  every  year  of  the  era.  Why  should  I  name  these 
illustrious  missionaries  ?  All  Christian  nations,  in  their 
cathedrals,  annals,  and  festivals,  keep  their  memories 
green  before  the  generations  of  men. 

In  the  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  centuries,  a  great 
and  unheard-of  danger  threatened  the  Irish  church  — 
the  northern  barbarians.  They  first  appeared  in  the 
Irish  seas  between  the  years  790  and  800.  The  flocks 
and  herds,  with  which  the  island  abounded,  and  the 
richly-endowed  shrines  and  schools,  were  the  chief  attrac- 
tions for  these  piratical  pagans.  Accordingly,  the  sa- 
cred places  suffered  most  from  their  incursions.     In  838, 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


23 


Ihey  spoiled  and  burned  down  Clonard  of  St  Kyran,  a 

famous  school  and  see ;  in  the  same  expedition,  81ane, 

|he  school  of  King  Dagobert,  and  Durrow  of '  Colnmb- 

mie,  also  suffered.;  four  times  in  the  same  century  Ar- 

lagh  was  desecrated,  and  laid  in  ruins ;  Lismore,  and 

^ven  Clonmacnoise,  in  the  very  he»rt  of  the   country, 

^ere  rifled.     Three  centuries  of  peace  had  left  the  pious 

ind  studious  Irish  ill  prepared  to  resist  these  fierce  in- 

raders,  but  necesstty  restored  the  warlike  spirit  of  the 

lace.    In  863,  "the  Danes"  were  beaten  near  Lough 

i^oyle ;  in  902,  near   Dublin ;  at  Dundalk,  in  920 ;  at 

loscrea,  in  943 ;  and  again  at  Lough  Foyle  in  1002. 

Several  of  their  kings  perished  upon  Irish  fields,  as  saga 

ind  chronicle  attest.     It  was  in  Ireland,  and  probably  as 

captive,  that  King  Olaf  Trygvesson,  the  apostle  of 

)enmark,  became  a  Christian. 

But  the  majority  of  those  who  poured  from  the  north 
>n  Christendom,  at  this  epoch,  were  inveterate  pagans, 
^he  Irish  wars  against  them  are  therefore  to  be  con- 
sidered as  earlier  crusades.     In  this  character  we  regard 
[he  campaigns  of  Brian,  called  Boroimhe,  that  is,  Trib- 
ite-taker.    For  half  a  century,  as  general  and  as  sove- 
ngn,  he  pursued  these  enemies  of  God  and  man  with 
leroic  constancy.    From  the  Shannon  to  Lough  Foyle, 
more  than  threescore   battles,  he   had  broken  and 
[outed  their  annual  expeditions.      At  the  end  of  the 
mth  century,  he  had  left  no  Northmen  in  the  land,  ex- 
cept a  few  artissfns  and  merchants  at  Dublin,  Wexford, 
^aterford,  Cork,  and  Limerick,  who  pursued  their  call- 
igs  in  peace,  and  paid  taxes  for  protection.     Brian, 
rhose  sovereign  genius  thus  sheltered  his  age  and  na- 
^on,  was  in  rank  but  a  provincial  king.     The  king  of 
icinster  was   Maolmorra,  a   jealous    and    headsibrong 
prince.     Some  sharp  words  Qver  a  game  of  chess  )]^ayed 
[t  Kincqjra,  with  Brian's '  son,  led  this  great  criminal  to 
[nter  into  a  league  with  the  ancient  enemy,  and  invite 
"lem  once  more  to  Ireland.     The  northern  races  warm- 
responded  to  his  call,  as  did  their  kinsmen  in  Britain 
ind  Normandy.    The  King  of  Denmark's  two  sons,  Car- 
flus  Kanutus  and  Andr^^,  with  twelve  thousand  men, 


^l 


m 


V 


^ 


\\ 


24 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


m 


rea€hed  Dublin,  and  were  loudly  received  by  the  traitor 
who  sent  for  them.  Broder  and  Arnud  came  with  one 
thousand  select  Norwegians,  covered  all  in  armor ;  Si- 
gurd, Earl  of  Orkney,  brought  at  least  as  many ;  Maol- 
morra  added  nine  thousand  men.  At  least  twenty-five 
thousand  of  the  invading  force  mustered  in  Dublin  on 
Palm  Sunday,  A.  D.  1014.  They  insisted  on  being  led 
to  battle  on  Good  Friday,  which  one  of  their  oracles 
assured  them  would  be  a  day  of  victory  to  them.  Brian 
would  have  avoided  fighting  on  so  holy  an  anniversary, 
but  he  was  forced  to  defend  himself.  With  him  was  a 
numerous  army,  divided,  like  the  enemy,  into  three  col- 
umns :  his  two  sons  comhianded  the  first ;  Kian  and  Do- 
nald the  second;  and  Connor  O'Kelly  and  other  western 
princes  lead  on  the  third.  A  Scottish  auxiliary  force, 
under  "  the  great  Stewart,"  fought  on  the  side  of  Ire- 
land and  the  faith.  Brian,  then  over  fourscore  years  old, 
with  crucifix  in  hand,  harangued  his  army.  "  Long  have  1 
the  men  of  Ireland,"  he  exclaimed,  "  groaned  under  the  j 
tyranny  of  these  seafaring  pirates ;  the  murderers  of 
your  kings  and  chieftains;  plunderers  of  your  for- 
tresses; profane  destroyers  of  the  churches  and  mon- 
asteries of  God  ;  who  have  trampled  and  committed  to  I 
the  flames  the  relics  of  his  saints  ;  and  (raising  his  voice) 
May  the  Almighty  God,  tlirough  his  great  mercy,  give 
you  strength  a^id  courage  this  day  to  put  an  end  forever 
to  the  Lochlunian  tyranny  in  Ireland,  and  to  revenge 
upon  them  their  many  perfidies,  and  their  profanations  | 
of  the  sacred  edifices  dedicated  to  his  worship  ;  this  day, 
on  which  Jesus  Christ  himself  suffered  death  for  yourj 
redemption."  He  then,  continue  the  ancient  annals, 
"showed  them  the  symbol  of  the  bloody  sacrifice  in  his  I 
left  hand,  and  his  golden-hilted  sword  in  his  right,  de- 
claring that  he  was  willing  to  lose  his  life  in  so  just 
and  honorable  a  cause."  And  he  did  lose  it,  though  not 
in  the  battle.  The  chiefs  of  the  army  insisted  on  his; 
retiring  to  his  tent,  where  he  was  slain  before  the  cruci- 
fix by  a  party  of  the  enemy.  The  victory  of  the  Chris- 
tians was,  however,  complete.  At  sunset,  fourteen  thou- 
sand pagan  bodies  lay  dead  upon  that  memorable  field] 


\\m> 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


25 


The  Irish  loss  was  less  in  numbers ;  but  Brian  himself, 
his  second  son,  and  two  grandsons,  the  great  Stewart 
of  Scotland,  and  other  captains  fell  on  their  side.  The 
fame  of  the  result  filled  all  Christendom  in  that  and  after 
times ;  the  chronicles  of  Epiparchus,  and  of  Ratisbon, 
the  Niala  Saga,  and  the  Saga  of  Earl  Sigurd,  preserved 
among  the  Normans  and  their  northern  kindred  the 
memory  of  "  Brian's  battle."  *  It  was  to  Christendom  a 
later  Tours,  or  an  earlier  Lepanto,  this  event  of  Good 
Friday  in  Ireland,  A.  D.  1014.  Under  Brian's  successor, 
Malachi  II.,  the  Danes  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
recover  their  lost  possessions  in  Leinster,  but  were  sup- 
pressed, and  Dublin,  their  city,  burned  and  demolished. 
This  eleventh  century,  so  auspiciously  begun,  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  in  modern  Irish  history.  It  is 
at  this  time  we  must  look  for  the  first  weakening  of  the 
federal  bond,  which  had  hitherto  kept  Tara  the  capital, 
and  the  Ard-righ  the  Imperator  under  the  Celtic  consti- 
tution ;  with  the  derangement  of  the  ancient  balance, 
there  comes  into  account  the  aggrandizement  of  the  great 
houses.  The  O'Briens,  especially,  overgrew  every  pro- 
vincial standard.  Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  married  a 
daughter  of  Brian  ;  Donagh,  Brian's  heir,  married  Dri- 
ella,  daughter  of  Godwin,  Earl  of  Kent,  sister  to  the 
Queen  of  England,  and  to  Harold  heir  presumptive. 
When  Godwin  and  his  sons  were  banished,  they  took 
refuge  with  O'Brien  ;  and  from  Ireland,  and  with  Irish 
troops,  they  returned  to  assert  their  rights  in  England. 
Twenty  years  after  the  battle  of  Hastings,  the  sons  of 
Harold,  fostered  and  educated  in  Ireland,  made.a  descent 
with  Irish  troops,  landing  in  the  Severn,  as  their  father 
had  done,  and  fighting  with  hereditary  ill  luck.f  Thus 
was  Ireland  brought  into  direct  collision  with  the  new 
and  sensitive  Norman  dynasty  established  in  the  neigh- 
boring island.  To  this  dynasty,  the  townsmen  and 
tradesmen  of  Danish  origin,  tolerated  in  the  seaports, 


*  The  well-known  Danish  ode  on  this  battle,  translated  by  Thomaa 
Gray,  will  also  occur  to  the  reader's  memory, 
t  Thierry's  Norman  Conquest,  vol.  i.                           '  -  n   - . 

3  • 


S6 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


m 


also  turned  with  expectation.  They  sent  letters  of  con- 
gratulation to  William  the  Conqueror,  on  his  accession ; 
their  bishops  of  Dublin  and  Waterford  went  to  Canter- 
bury to  be  consecrated ;  in  1142,  Irish  Danes  served 
under  Cadwallader,  King  Henry's  ally  in  Wales ;  and 
in  1165,  they  served  under  Henry  H.,  in  person,  against 
David  ap  Owen.  This  alliance,  so  natural  in  its  origin, 
wants  not  a  link  in  those  ages  ;  but,  though  natural,  it 
can  hardly  be  justified,  when  we  know  that  these  same 
naturalized  Irish  Danes  rendered  homage  to  the  succes- 
sive kings  of  Ireland.*  They  evidently  acted  a  double 
part  in  the  politics  of  both  kingdoms  at  this  period. 

While  the  Norman  dynasty  was  strengthening  itself 
in  England^  and  the  Celtic  constitution  was  gradually 
degenerating  from  its  essential  unity,  the  Irish  hie- 
rarchy were  zealously  employed  in  repairing  the  disci- 
pline, and  the  churches,  destroyed  by  three  centurie*  of 
pagan  warfare.  An  unlettered  clergy,  more  accustomed 
to  defend  their  creed  with  the  sword  than  the  syllogism, 
had  succeeded  the  learned  fathers  of  the  apostolic  age ; 
the  canons  were  flagrantly  violated,  often  unintention- 
ally ;  the  office  of  erenach,  or  treasurer,  originally  con- 
fined to  archdeacons,  was  usurped,  almost  in  every  dio- 
cese, by  laymen ;  the  very  primacy  had  become  an  heir- 
loom, and  for  three  generations  had  been  kept  in  one 
family.  God  had  pity  on  his  people,  and  raised  up  a 
second  St.  Patrick,  in  the  person  of  the  illustrious  Mala- 
chy,  Archbishop  of  Armagh.  He  became  the  restorer  of 
the  old  foundations,  and  the  founder  of  new  ones.  He 
reopened  the  school  of  Bangor,  and  founded,  or  com- 
pleted, the  college  of  Armagh.  He  introduced  the  Cis- 
tercian order,  and  sent  pupils  to  graduate  at  Clairvaux 
under  his  dear  friend  St.  Bernard.  He  held  several  syn- 
ods, revived  discipline,  repaired  sacred  edifices,  and  set, 
in  his  own  life,  the  holy  example  of  a  perfect  bishop. 
Five  of  his  contemporaries  are  canonized  as  saints  —  the 
best  proof  that  he  had  worthy  and  zealous  fellow-labor- 


•  A.  D.  1073,  they  rendered  homage  to  the  Ard-righ  Thorlogh  j  A.  D. 
1096,  to  the  Ard-righ^  Mortogh ;  A.  D.  1164,  to  McMurrogh. 


PROTKSTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


d7 


ers.  The  great  provincial  families  vied  with  each  other 
in  contributing  material  to  the  restoration  of  religion. 
Then  Holy  Cross  was  founded  by  the  O'Briens ;  then 
Cong  and  Sligo  rose  upon  the  grants  of  the  O'Con- 
nors ;  then  Mellifont  raised  its  noble  front  heavenward ; 
then  Ardagh,  Kells,  Ferns,  Lismore,  Clonmacnoise,  and 
Boyle  rejoiced  in  the  return  of  their  long-absent  glory. 
St.  Malachy  died  at  Armagh  in  1148 ;  but  the  good  work 
did  not  pause.  In  1152,  the  council  of  Kells  was  held 
by  the  legate.  Cardinal  Papiron,  where  the  palliums 
(or  Roman  capes)  were  duly  delivered  to  the  four  arch- 
bishops, and  where,  also,  a  memorable  event — the  abo- 
lition of  the  slavery  of  Saxon  domestics  —  waa  decreed. 

The  Irish  church  might  now  have  looked  for  another 
apostolic  age.  But  it  was  not  so  ordered.  A  new 
trial  in  the  civil  order  awaited  pastors  and  people.  As 
Maolmorra  had  invited  the  Danish  invasion  long  before, 
so  his  descendant,  Dermid,  banished  for  political  and 
personal  crimes,  conspired  to  bring  in  the  Normans. 
Though  guilty  and  unpopular,  he  had  a  party  in  Lein- 
ster,  and  when,  in  1169,  that  party  was  reenforced  by  a 
few  foreign  knights,  the  Danish  town  of  Wexford  opened 
its  gates  to  them.  The  next  year,  Danish  Waterford 
received  a  further  detachment  of  his  alliefe,  under  Rich- 
ard, Earl  of  Pembroke ;  and  then  the  wedge  entered 
that  divided  beyond  repair  the  uncentralized  native  con- 
stitution. In  1172,  Henry  II.  visited  Ireland,  and  made 
compacts  with  some  of  its  princes,  and  prescribed  limits 
to  his  own  subjects,  settled  on  the  eastern  coast.  Under 
enterprising  leaders,  at  different  times,  thes:=i  limits  were 
enlarged  in  various  directions.  De  Courcy,  Fitzgerald, 
Butler,  and  De  Burgo  are  the  great  names  of  the  Nor- 
mans in  Ireland.  Against  them,  the  Milesians  may  put, 
without  fear  or  shame,  the  O'Briens,  O'Connors,  and 
O' Neils.  The  fluctuating  frontiers  of  the  Norman  in- 
terest during  four  centuries  show  that  the  children  of 
the  Scotii  knew  how  to  guard  their  land  against  the 
descendants  of  the  Danes. 

This  internecine,  colonial,  or  civil  war  was  necessa- 
rily highly  prejudicial  to  the  best  interests  of  religion. 


28 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


II' 


■^ 
^i|] 


I    ! 


'  i'l 


National  feuds  were  carried  into  the  chapter,  the  cloister, 
and  even  the  pulpit  Henry's  chaplain,  Giraldus,  taunt- 
ed the  Archbishop  of  Cashel  that  the  Irish  church  was 
without  martyrs.  "  We  will  have  martyrs  enough  now 
that  your  master  has  come  among  us,"  was  the  prompt 
reply.  Giraldu^,  in  a  sermon  at  Christ  Church,  Dublin, 
reflected  on  the  native  clergy.  The  next  day,  Auban 
O'MoUoy,  Abbot  of  Glendalough,  from  the  same  pulpit 
preached  a  retort,  in  which  there  are  allusions  to  St.  Thom- 
as a  Becket  not  to  be  misunderstood.  These  were  but 
faint  portents  of  troubles  and  collisions  to  come.  Among 
the  native  clergy,  most  conspicuous  was  St.  Lawrence, 
Archbishop  of  Dublin.  Visiting  England,  he  narrowly 
escaped  martyrdom,  while  celebrating  mass  at  the  altar 
of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury ;  going  to  Rome,  he  is 
ordered  by  Henry  not  to  return  to  his  see,  the  metropo- 
lis of  which  is  now  under  the  English  flag.  He  died  an 
exile,  at  Eu,  in  Normandy.  In  1175,  Primate  Conor 
died  at  Rome,  whither  he  had  gone  to  consult  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter.  In  1215,  Dionysius,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  also  died  at  Rome ;  the  same  year,  returning 
from  the  fourth  Lateran  council,  died  O'Heney,  Bishop 
of  Killallo.  The  native  bishops  have  frequent  and 
urgent  occasions  for  appealing  to  Rome.  Besides  insti- 
gating to  invasion  and  plunder,  the  Kings  of  ICngland 
claim  a  right  of  nomination  to  Irish  bishoprics  not  to 
be  borne.  Thus  David,  a  relative  of  Fitz  Henry's,  being 
appointed,  in  1208,  Bishop  of  Waterford,  is  slain  in  a 
tumult,  endeavoring  to  get  possession  of  it;  thus,  in 
1224,  we  have  "  Robert,  the  English  Bishop,"  of  Ardagh. 
In  1236,  Maolmorra  O'Laughlin,  "  having  obtained  the 
pope's  letters,  with  the  consent  of  the  king,"  is  conse- 
crated Archbishop  of  Tuam,  in  England.  In  1258,  when 
a  successor  to  this  prelate  was  to  be  chosen,  the  suffra- 
gans of  Tuam  nominated  CFlynn^  but  the  King  of 
England  nominated  Walter,  of  Salerna.  Walter  died 
the  same  year,  and  so  a  collision  was  avoided.* 


!{iiiil{l 


♦  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  under  the  several  datea  in  the  text. 
In  addition  to  these  nominations,  we  find,  in  1246,  Albert  of  Cologne 
»  nominated  for  Armagh ;  in  1267,  a  "Roman  Bishop"  of  Clonfert,  and  in 
1530,  a  Greek  Bishop  of  Elphin. 


iiiiiiiiiii^- 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


29 


The  same  fierce  contest  of  nationalities  was  carried 
into  the  monastic  houses.  Mellifont  totally  excluded 
men  of  English  birth,  for  which  it  was  severely  censured 
by  the  chapter  of  the  order.  Donald  O'Neil  complains, 
by  name,  of  English  monks  who  preached  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  Irish  ;  at  Bective,  Conal,  and  Jerpoint,  no 
Irish  brother  of  the  order  may  enter.  Many  years  and 
many  reprimands  were  needed  to  take  the  edge  off  this 
deadly,  criminal  quarrel,  and  to  establish  religious  unity 
between  the  two  races.  Happily,  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, this  better  spirit  generally  prevailed.  The  statute 
of  Kilkenny  (A.  D.  1367)  enacted  in  vain  a  decree  of 
non -intercourse ;  the  union  went  on.* 

Through  warfare,  and  faction,  and  national  controver- 
sies, the  great  duty  of  education  was  not  neglected. 
Flan  O' Gorman  and  other  scholars  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  it  is  written,  "  studied  twenty  years 
in  the  schools  of  France  and  England."  Armagh  Col- 
lege being  declared  sole  school  of  theology,  seven  thou- 
sand scholars  are  counted  there  at  one  time.  The  Do- 
minicans of  Dublin  bridge  the  LifFey  for  the  convenience 
of  their  scholars ;  Archbishop  de  Bicknor  projects  and 
commences  a  University  of  St.  Patrick's,  for  which  bulls 
are  issued  at  Rome ;  St.  Nicholas  College,  at  Galway, 
begins  to  make  itself  known  to  the  learned.  At  Ox- 
ford, there  are  national  feuds  between  "the  three  na- 
tions," and  a  serious  riot  on  Palm  Sunday,  1274.  The 
Irish  students  are  prohibited  from  entering  the  English 
colleges  after  this,  and  so  remain  at  home,  or  betake 
themselves  to  Paris.  The  great  mental  rivalry  between 
the  two  races  was  favorable  to  learning. 

Among  the  laity,  even  the  noblest,  ^ere  is  no  lack  of 
devotion.  Godfrey  and  Richard  count  some  of  them 
among  their  followers,  as  the  zealous  Tasso  sings :  "  the 
concert  of  Christendom "  was  completed  by  "  the  Irish 
harp."     Ullgarg  O'Rorke  died  beside  the  Jorclan  in  1231 ; 

*  The  native  saints  were  popularly  supposed  to  avenge  their  invaded 
country.  Dermid  McMurrogh  died  by  the  interposition  of  St.  Columb- 
cilles  and  Strongbow  by  St.  Bridge's ;  St.  Kiaran  saved  Clonmacnoise 
"firom  the  King  of  England's  constable  j "  t.  e.,  De  Lacy. 

3  * 


M 


H 


/ 


90 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABIilSH   THB 


Hugh  O'Connor,  grandson  of  Roderick,  died  on  bis 
return  from  Jerusalem  in  1224.  Roderick  himself  died 
in  the  religious  habit,  at  Cong,  in  1198,  having  spent 
five  years  in  the  cloister.  In  his  will  he  left  offerings  to 
the  churches  at  Rome  and  Jerusalem.  During  the  two 
succeeding  centuries,  almost  every  second  obituary  of 
an  Irish  noble  states  that  he  «  gained  the  victory  over 
the  devil  and  the  world,"  in  the  religious  house  and  habit 
of  some  regular  order.  When  St.  John  of  Matha 
founded  his  noble  brotherhood  for  the  redemption  of 
captives,  Ireland  erected  fifty-three  houses  of  that  order 
— ~as  many  as  England  and  Scotland  put  together. 
Such  was  the  Irish  church  of  the  middle  ages. 

In  the  state,  the  provincial  rulers  still  maintained  their 
rank  and  title ;  but  though  many  noble  names  are  men- 
tioned as  "  worthy  heirs  of  the  crown  of  Ireland,"  no 
regular  election  to  that  high  office  seems  to  have  take^ 
place  during  the  three  centuries  following  ](l{g4^^  ^^ 
xuiQericK.  „         .^»^  '%i'^f 


CHAPTER    n. 


♦  '•■» 


I 


Jll- 


HESTBY  Ym.  OF  ENGLAND  ELECTED  KING  OF  IBELAND.  —  ANTECE- 
DEiNtS  OF  THIS  ELECTION.— THE  CLEBGY  NOT  CONSULTED.— 
THE  CHIEFS  CANVASSED  INDIVIDUALLY.  —  AITER  THE  ELEC- 
TION. —  APOSTATE  BISHOPS.- CONFISCATION,  SACRILEGE,  AND 
BEFOEMATION. 

The  election  of  Henry  VIII.  of  England  as  King 
of  Ireland  is  one  of  the  primary  facts  in  the  history  of 
both  nations.  To  our  present  purpose  its  considera- 
tion is  indispensable. 

The  Kings  of  England,  from  Henry  II.  to  Henry  VII., 
had  always  claimed  the  lordship  of  a  part  ctf  Ireland. 
Sometimes,  in  the  purposely  indefinite  language  of  dip- 
lomacy, they  had  styled  themselves  "  Dominns  Htbernice^' 
w^i  \out  qualification.  This  title  they  assumed  in  the 
su  ne  sense  that  the  Danish  Vi-kings  of  Dublin  and 


n( 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


81 


t   :': 


Waterford,  in  the  tenth  and.eleventh  centuries,  had  styled 
themselves  <*  kings  '*  of  the  whole  country.  The  bulls  of 
Popes  Adrian  and  Alexander,  which  were  relied  on  as 
the  foundation  of  their  title,  were  couched  in  very  gen- 
eral terms,  and  the  non-fulfilment  of  their  conditions 
necessarily  rendered  the  title  conditionally  given  of  no 
legal  authority.  During  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Holy 
War,  in  the  fourteenth,  the  wars  with  France  and  Scot- 
land, postponed  the  formal  assertion  of  sovereignty. 
At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth,  the  young  Richard  IL,  a 
candidate  for  the  empire,  was  tauntingly  told,  by  the 
German  electors,  to  "  conquer  Ireland  first"  Under  the 
instigation  of  this  taunt,  his  expeditions  of  1394  and 
t399  were  undertaki^n,  in  which  Art.  McMurrogh  won  a 
deathless  name,  Henry  IV.  his  knightly  spurs,  and  Rich* 
s^  IL  lost  his  early  character  for  courage,  and  finally  his 
crown.  While  Richard  was  absent  in  Ireland,  the  ban- 
ished ^Duke  of  Lancaster  returned  to  England,  seized 
the  gtavernm'ent,  and  captured  his  luckless  predecessor. 
Thus  eom^meneed,  with  the  next  century,  that  civil  war 
of  the^roses,  rwhich  closed  on  Bosworth  Field  in  1485. 
Henry"  Tudor,.  Earl  of  Richmond,  the  conqueror  upon 
that  day,  was  a  bastard,  like  William  of  Normandy; 
he  conquered,  like  William,  with  foreign  men  and  arms. 
Still,  the  parliament  confirmed  his  title ;  and  his  marriage 
with  Elizabeth  of  York,  the  lawful  representative  of  the 
royal  line,  as  well  as  the  strong  desire  of  all  English- 
men for  peace  at  any  price,  gave  a  setnction  and  a 
strength  to  his  claims,  which  no  other  king  had  obtained 
in  the  same  century.  The  present  British  monarchy 
properly  dates  from  the  battle  of  Bosworth  Field. 

Henry  YII.'s  administration  needs  to  be  known,  in 
order  to  understand  the  more  important  reign  of  his 
son.  The  one  prepared  the  way  for  the  other,  in  church 
and  state,  in  Ireland  and  in  England.  The  leading  idea 
of  the  new  king  was,  the  centralization  of  all  power  and 
patronage  in  the  hands  of  the  sovereign.  Money  was 
his  darling  object ;  taxation  and  confiscation  his  favor- 
ite means.  An  insurrection  in  Yorkshire,  in  the  secohd 
year  of  his  reign,  and  the  successive  attempts  of  two 


I  i 


I? 


u 


m 
J 


';  « 


K 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


claimants  to  the  throne,  in  the  Yorkist  interest,  gave 
him  the  desired  opportunities.  The  Duchess  of  Bur- 
gundy, the  Kings  of  France  and  Scotland,  patronized 
both  "  the  pretenders."  But  their  main  strength  lay  in 
Ireland,  among  the  Geraldines  and  other  nobles  of  "  the 
Pale,"  who,  whatever  they  may  have  thought  of  the 
title  of  Simnel  or  Warbeck,  were  politic  enough  to  see 
that  a  strongly-established  dynasty  would  be  likely  to 
enforce  its  authority  over  their  baronial  demesnes.  In 
1486,  they  crowned  Simnel  at  Dublin,  and  paid  him 
homage.  Joined  by  two  thousand  Burgundians  under 
Schwartz,  they  invaded  England  the  following  June, 
landed  at  Foudray,  in  Lancashire,  and  gave  battle  to 
Henry  at  Stoke  upon  the  Trent.  They  were  defeated. 
Among  the  dead  were  the  Lords  Maurice  and  Thomas 
Fitzgerald,  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  and  Martin  Schwartz. 
Simnel  was  taken  prisoner,  and  made  a  scullion  in  the 
king's  kitchen.  Soon  a  more  formidable  pretender  ap- 
peared, under  the  title  of  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  second 
son  of  Edward  IV.  In  1495,  he  landed  at  Cork,  where 
the  mayor  of  the  city,  O' Water,  the  Earl  of  Desmond, 
and  many  others,  declared  their  belief  in  his  legitimacy, 
and  rendered  him  homage.  Retried  his  fortune  in  Kent, 
failed,  and  returned  to  Flanders.  He  again  went  to 
Ireland,  and  from  Ireland  landed  in  Cornwall,  where  he 
gained  three  thousand  adherents.  Advancing  towards 
London,  his  forces  were  surrounded  near  Taunton,  and 
himself  captured.  In  1498,  he  was  executed  on  a 
charge  of  attempting  to  escape  from  the  Tower.  The 
mayor  of  Cork  and  his  son  suffered  with  him  at  Tyburn. 
With  his  usual  policy,  Henry  VII.  made  these  at- 
tempts occasions  for  new  taxes  and  new  confiscations. 
The  insurgents  were  pardoned  at  so  much  per  head ; 
the  poor  for  twenty  pence,  the  rich  for  two  hundred 
pounds.  Cities  and  corporations  were  taxed  according 
to  their  numbers,  the  London  merchants  paying  not  less 
than  ten  thousand  pounds.  The  Parliament  of  1497 
voted  him  twelve  thousand  pounds  and  three  fifteenths 
of  the  revenues.  Sir  William  Capeii  compounded  for 
one  thousand  pounds ;  the  Earl  of  Derby  was  pardoned 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


33 


for  six  thousand  pounds.  We  need  not  wonder,  that  in 
a  few  years  Henry  became  one  of  the  richest  kings  in 
Europe. 

Not  only  did  he  gather  in  riches,  but  power  also.  In 
his  reign  tne  feudal  law  of  "  maintenance,"  which  made 
the  followers  of  each  lord  his  dependants,  in  peace  or 
war,  was  abolished.  The  sheriffs  of  counties,  instead 
of  being  local  administrators,  were  now  royal  deputies. 
The  Parliament  at  Westminster  swallowed  all  the  pala- 
tine and  ducal  courts  of  the  kingdom,  and  in  its  fulness 
became  the  contented  slave  of  the  king.  Private  prop- 
erty was  converted  into  royal  fiefs ;  estated  orphans  were 
made  royal  wards;  common  lands  were  enclosed  and 
sold.  The  same  arbitrary  and  avaricious  policy  was 
attempted  with  the  church.  The  chapter  of  York  pur- 
chases a  concession  with  one  thousand  marks ;  the  Bish- 
op of  Bath,  at  his  nomination,  undertakes  to  pay  gne 
hundred  pounds  per  year  to  the  king;  a  Carthusian 
monastery,  for  the  renewal  of  its  charter,  pays  five  thou- 
sand pounds.  In  these  signs  it  is  not  difficult  to  foresee 
another  Henry  improving  on  the  paternal  examples  of 
avarice  and  absolutism. 

Ireland  had  been  dangerous  to  the  new  dynasty  in  its 
first  years,  but  the  double  defeat  of  the  Yorkists  had 
taught  the  Pales-men  wisdom.  The  Earls  of  Kildare 
and  Desmond  paid  heavily  for  Henry's  forgiveness;  and 
the  colonial  Parliament,  which  sat  at  Drogheda  in  1497, 
was  quite  as  slavish  as  that  which  sat  at  Westminster. 
The  English  deputy  in  Ireland,  Sir  Edward  Poynings, 
was  a  fit  minister  for  such  a  master.  He  obtained  the 
consent  of  the  Parliament,  that,  in  future,  ail  heads  of 
bills  should  be  sent  into  England  for  the  previous  ap- 
proval of  the  king  and.  council.  This  act,  known  as 
Poynings's  law,  is  celebrated  in  Irish  parliamentary  dis- 
cussions, both  of  the  last  and  the  previous  century.* 
For  the  time,  it  effectually  secured  the  dependence  of 
the  Anglo-Irish  barons  on  the  new  dynasty.j 

*  In  1782,  ftnd  at  the  time  of  the  legislative  union,  Poynings's  law 
was  a  principal  topic  of  parliamentary  debate  in  both  kingdoms, 
t  Among  those  vho  did  homage  at  Dublin  were  Gereildt  Earl  q$ 


I  '  '  f     .' 


M 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


Anxious  to  atone  for  their  double  rebellion^  and  to 
reimburse  themselves  for  the  heavy  fines  tvnce  levied 
on  them,  the  nobles  of  the  Pale  were  disposed  to  renew 
the  struggle  of  races,  which  had  been  suspended  for 
more  than  a  century.  The  statute  of  Kilkenny  forbid- 
ding intermarriages  was,  from  the  first,  a  dead  letter 
in  two  thirds  of  the  island.  Fitzgeralds,  Burkes,  and 
Butlers  had  constantly  intermarried  with  O'Connors, 
O' Neils,  and  O'Briens.  There  was  a  near  prospect  of 
national  unity,  when  Poynings,  under  the  instigation  of 
his  royal  master,  insinuated  th&  Roman  policy,  "  divide 
and  conquer."  In  1504,  we  find  the  new  loyalists,  with 
their  Milesian  connections,  engaged  in  the  deadly  battle 
of  Knoc-Tuadh  with  the  native  Irish  under  O'Connor 
and  O'Brien,  and  the  naturalized  Normans  under  Burke 
of  Clanrickarde  and  Bermingham  of  Athenry.  Kildare, 
Gormanstown,  and  Howth  commanded  for  King  Henry, 
and  the  dead  who  were  left  on  that  hard-fought  field 
would  outnumber  those  who  fell  at  Bosworth  and  Stoke 
piled  together.  Knoc-Tuadh  ("the  hill  of  the  battle- 
axes  ")  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  battles  in  the  war- 
like history  of  the  Irish.  Henry  was  well  avenged  that 
day  for  the  aid  Ireland  had  given  to  the  pretended  dukes 
of  Clarence  and  York.  He  did  not  live  to  ret,p  all  the 
fruits  of  his  great  victory ;  but  this,  with  many  other 
advantages,  he  bequeathed  to  his  successor. 

In  1509,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  the  future  "  reformer  " 
found  himself  a  king.  His  very  first  act  was  signifi- 
cant of  his  evil  career.  Immediately  after  his  corona- 
tion, he  sent  for  the  oath  he  had  publicly  sworn,  and 
privately  altered  it. 

"  He  had  sworn  to  '  maintain  of  Holy  Church,  granted 
"  by  the  ancient  Christian  Kings  of  England ; '  he  added, 
"  *  as  far  as  they  will  not  be  prejudicial  to  his  jurisdiction 
**  and  royal  dignity.'  He  had  sworn  to  '  maintain  peace 
"  between  Holy  Church,  the  clergy,  and  the  people ; '  for 
<*  this  he  substituted  that  he  should  <  endeavor  to  work 


Kildare,  the  Axchbishop  of  Dublin,  Eustace,  Lord  Fortlester,  Preston, 
Lord  Gonnansto'wn,  the  Barons  of  Howth,  Trimbleston,  Slaine,  and  Duh- 
■any,  the  J^hot  of  St.  Mary's,  Dublin,  and  the  Prior  of  Holmpatrick, 
Wioklow. 


PROTKSTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


86 


((  with  the  people  and  clergy  under  the  royal  dominion.' 
<<  He  had  sworn  to  <  maintain  justice  and  equity,  and  yet 
**  to  be  merciful ; '  this  he  altered  into  a  promise  to  *  grant 
<'  mercy  to  him  who,  according  to  his  conscience,  should 
«  merit  it.*  He  had  sworn  to  *  maintain  the  laws  of  the 
**  kingdom,  and  the  customs  of  the  nation;'  *  without 
"  prejudice,*  he  wrote,  *  to  the  rights  of  the  crown,  or  his 
"  imperial  dignity.'  Henry,  after  making  these  altera- 
"  tions,  closed  the  book,  and  said  not  a  word  of  what 
<<'hehaddorte."* 

It  is  not  our  place  to  detail  the  history  of  this  reign. 
For  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  life,  Henry  was  gov- 
erned by  a  great  but  unscrupulous  minister.  Cardinal 
Wolsey.'  On  the  30th  of  November,  1530,  the  cardinal's 
body  was  lowered  into  a  vault  at  Leicester,  and  with 
him  was  buried  the  last  restraint  upon  the  terrible  pas- 
sions of  the  master  he  had  so  long  served  and  controlled. 

The  seeds  of  "  reformation  "  were  silently  growing  up 
in  England  before  and  during  Wolsey's  time.  The  con- 
troversy upon  the  king's  divorce,  and  the  heat  it  pro- 
duced, gave  vigor  to  the  rank  productions  of  schismatic 
scholars.  So  early  as  1523,  the  king  began  to  express 
scruples  touching  the  lawfulness  of  his  marriage  with 
Katherine,  who  had  been  betrothed  to  his  elder  brother, 
Arthur,  and  after  Arthur's  death  married  to  him.  For 
ten  years,  he  tried  every  art  and  every  influence  to  obtain 
the  dispensation  of  Rome,  but  in  vain.  His  own  power, 
the  book  against  Luther  so  highly  valued,  the  mediation 
of  France,  all  failed  to  procure  the  desired  divorce.  At 
length,  devoured  by  passion  and  impatience,  he  resolved 
to  cast  off  the  bonds  of  spiritual  obedience  which  had 
united  England  with  Christendom  for  eight  centuries. 
The  successive  steps  of  the  schism  followed  rapidly  on 
each  other.  In  1529,  he  proposed,  but  postponed,  the 
law  for  the  confiscation  of  the  lesser  monasteries.  In 
1531,  he  obliged  the  clergy,  under  the  penalty  of  preBmu- 
nire,  (transportation  from  the  realm,)  to  acknowledge 
his  supremacy  in  spirituals.  In  1532,  from  the  national 
convocation  of  the  clergy,  he  obtained  his  divorce.     In 

,     *  Audin's  Henry  Vm.  p.  28. 


I 


8S  ATTEMPTB  TO  BBTaBLISH   THE 

1533  took  place  his  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  and 
the  birth  of  Elizabeth,  which  followed  rather  quickly 
upon  it  In  1635,  the  royal  "order  in  council'*  ap- 
peared, ordering  the  omission  "  of  the  name  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome  from  every  liturgical  book ; "  and  the  same  year 
Lord  Chancellor  More  and  Bishop  Fisher  died,  martyrs 
of  the  faith,  for  their  resistance  to  the  new  ordinances. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  England, 
Henry,  through  his  agents,  was  urging  forward  a  favor- 
ite project  in  Ireland — the  conversion  of  his  title  from 
a  lordship  granted  by  the  pope,  to  a  kingship  by  election 
of  the  estates,' and  the  consequent  modification  of  the 
titles,  tenures,  and  laws  of  Ireland,  upon  the  feudal  basis. 
To  this  design,  Gerald,  Earl  of  Kildare,  seems  to  have 
been  an  obstacle,  and  accordingly  was  summoned  to 
London.  There  he  was  charged  with  having,  among 
other  offences,  married  one  of  his  daughters  to  O'Dod- 
nell,  and  another  to  O'Connor,  of  Offafly.  He  was  sent 
to  the  Tower,  where,  the  following  December,  he  died. 
A  false  report  having  reached  Dublin,  in  1534,  of  his  exe- 
cution, his  son,  called,  from  the  splendor  of  his  dress, "  Silk- 
en Thomas,"  and  others,  his  relatives,  flew  to  arms. 
O'Neil,  O'Connor,  and  O'Moore  sent  him  supplies  and 
men.  He  began  the  siege  of  Dublin,  and  entered  into  a 
treaty  with  the  citizens,  and  exchanged  hostages  to  insure 
their  neutrality.  At  Clontarf  he  cut  off  a  small  reenforce- 
ment  which  had  landed  from  England ;  and  greater  sup- 
plies, under  skilful  captains,  followed.  After  keeping  the 
field,  with  various  fortunes,  for  more  than  a  year,  he  was 
induced  to  surrender  to  the  king's  mercy.  His  five  un- 
cles followed  his  example ;  but  in  February,  1536,  they 
all  six  suffered  death  at  Tyburn,  with  some  of  their 
adherents.  This  danger,  and  the  consideration  shown 
abroad  to  the  emissaries  of  the  Irish  leaders,  increased 
Henry's  anxiety  to  be  possessed  of  the  crown  of  Ireland 
by  ^,  title  apparently  legal  and  spontaneous.  Whether 
the  project  originated  with  Wolsey,  or  in  the  controversy 
with  Rome,  or  earlier,  it  certainly  was  much  more  zeal- 
ously urged  after  the  revolt  of  Silken  Tiiuiias  than  it 
had  been  before. 

The  nature  of  the  divorce  controversy  was  not  gen- 


PROTSSTANT   IIBPOIIMATION   llf   IRELAND. 


37 


cnrally  understood  in  Ireland.  Henry's  book  against 
Luther  was  better  known  than  his  correspondence  about 
the  queen.  His  "  Confession  "  of  1536,  with  the  essen- 
tial exception  of  the  Papal  supremacy,  was  altogether 
Cfitholic.  His  "  Six  Articles  "  of  1539  nil  affirmed  Cath- 
olio  doctrines.  It  was  the  policy  of  Henry  that  the  Irish 
should  be  as  much  in  doubt  of  his  real  purpose  as  diplo- 
macy could  leave  them.  In  1535,  tie  had  appointed 
George  Browne,  a  partisan  of  the  divorce,  and  an  Eng- 
lishman, Archbishop  of  Dublin ;  but  when  the  new 
prelate  caused  the  Baculus  Jesus  and  other  sacred  relics 
to  be  burned,  he  was  rebuked  for  his  precipitancy.  In 
June  of  that  year,  he  writes  to  Mr.  Secretary  Cromwell, 
that  "  there  goeth  a  common  rumor,"  that  he  intended  to 
pluck  down  our  Lady  of  Trim,  and  other  idols ;  "  which 
indeed,"  he  adds,  "  I  never  attempted,  although  my  con- 
Bcionce  would  right  well  serve  me  to  oppresse  such  ydols." 
In  1539,  Con  O'Neil,  Prince  of  Ulster,  taking  alarm  at 
the  rumors  which  had  reached  him,  marched  southward, 
and  after  taking  Ardee  and  Navan,  reviewed  his  troops 
at  Tara.  On  his  return,  at  Bellahoe,  in  Monaghan,  he 
was  surprised  and  defeated  by  the  Lord  Deputy  Grey, 
who,  after  the  battle,  proceeded  to  Trim,  where  the  famous 
statue  of  our  Lady  stood,  and  the  deputy,  "very  de- 
voutly kneeling  before  her,  heard  three  or  four  masses ; " 
the  archbishop  and  Lord  Butler,  the  treasurer,  refused 
to  go  in.  The  next  year,  this  deputy  was  superseded  by 
Anthony  St.  Leger,  who,  in  1541,  succeeded  in  assem- 
bling "  the  great  court "  at  Dublin,  for  the  long-desired 
election. 

Those  who  attended  for  this  purpose  were  of  two 
classes  —  Anglo-Irish  barons,  and  Milesian-Irish  chiefs ; 
the  clergy,  by  a  device  of  St.  Leger's,  contrary  to  all 
former  usage,  were  not  summoned.  Of  the  barons,  the 
Earls  of  Desmond  and  Ormond,  cgid  nearly  all  the  Lein- 
ster  viscounts  were  present ;  of  the  Celtic  chiefs,  those 
of  secondary  rank  were  numerous,  but  the  principals 
were  few.  Until  their  suffrages  were  taken,  it  was  felt 
necessary  to  postpone  the  proclamation. 

The  absent   chiefs  were    separately  consultedi  and 


88 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


their  consent  obtained  on  terms  such  as  usually  existed 
between  vassal  and  sovereign  in  continental  countries. 
O'Brien,  O'Connor  Faily,  and  O'Dun  acknowledged 
the  title  in  June  and  July,  1541 ;  O'Donnell  acknowl- 
edged it  on  the  6th  of  August,  in  the  same  year;  O'Neil 
at  Maynooth,  in  1542 ;  O' Moore  on  the  13th  of  May ; 
M'Carthy,  O'SuUivan,  O'Callaghan,  and  O'Ruarc,  in 
September;  and  M'Donnell  of  the  Glens,  and  M' Wil- 
liam Burke,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1543.  In  each  case, 
the  acknowledgment  was  made  on  the  stipulation  that 
each  chief  was  to  remain  "  head  of  his  nation,"  and  that 
the  ancient  rights  and  laws  of  each  clan  were  to  be  re- 
spected. With  this  guaranty,  they  agreed  that  the 
national  crown,  which  from  the  thirteenth  century  had 
not  been  conferred  upon  any  aspirant,  should  be  united 
to  the  crown  of  England.  In  1542,  the  Dublin  heralds  an- 
nounced that  "his  majesty  is  now,  as  he  hath  always  of 
right  been,  acknowledged  by  the  nobility  and  commons  of 
Ireland,  to  be  king  of  the  same"  &c.  In  January,  1543,  he 
was  proclaimed,  in  similar  terms,  in  London ;  and  in  1544, 
when  the  suffrages  of  the  chiefs  were  complete,  the  old 
seals  of  office  in  Ireland  were  cancelled,  and  new  ones 
sent  to  Sir  William  Brabazon,  who  was  the  first  viceroy. 
"  The  collation  of  this  royal  dignity  by  the  Irish  nation 
alone,'!  says  Mr.  Plowden,  "  is  a  proof  and  a  full  recog- 
nition by  England  of  the  absolute  sovereignty  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  Irish  nation."  *  The  absence  of  the 
bishops  and  lord  abbots  from  the  great  court  is  a 
memorable  omission.  The  Irish  church  stands  acquitted 
of  imposing  the  present  dynasty  on  that  country. 

The  English  ambassadors  abroad  were  directed  to 
procure  the  acknowledgment  of  the  new  title,  which, 
after  some  diplomatic  delays,  was  universally  conceded. 
One  of  the  parties,  who  was  most  reluctant  to  admit  it, 
was  the  King  of  Scotland.! 

*  Plowden's  Ireland,  vol.  i.,  p.  62. 

t  Finkerton's  History  of  Scotland.  The  Ijish  sovereignty  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  ancient  in  Europe,  as  the  following  anecdote 
proves :  At  the  council  of  Constance,  in  1417,  where  the  legate  of  Henry 
V.  disputed  precedence  with  the  legate  of  France,  priority  was  awarded 
to  the  l^glish  agent  expressly  on  account  of  his  king's  partial  sover- 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


39 


The  chiefs  of  the  great  court  proceeded  in  1542  to 
Greenwich  Palace,  where  they  formally  presented  Henry 
the  crown  of  Brian  and  of  Roderick.  In  exchange,  pat- 
ents of  nobility  were  made  out  for  them ;  and  O'Neil, 
O'Brien,  and  Burke  returned  Earls  of  Tyrone,  of  Tho- 
mond,  and  of  Clanrickarde.  These  new  titles,  and  the 
new  code  which  they  announced,  gave  great  dissatisfac- 
tion to  the  clans,  who  now  began  to  understand  on  what 
business  their  chiefs  had  been  summoned  to  Dublin. 
They  truly  foresaw  that  this  was  but  the  beginning  of 
actual  conquest ;  and,  in  fact,  at  the  very  time  the  new 
earls  were  inspecting  their  patents  at  Greenwich,  Henry 
had  before  him  a  detailed  project  for  the  confiscation  of 
the  entire  soil  of  Ireland,  prepared  for  his  consideration 
by  the  chief  baron  of  his  Dublin  exchequer.*  Confis- 
cation and  Protestantism  were  born  at  a  birth  in  the 
fertile  mind  of  the  newly-elected  King  of  Ireland.  What- 
ever charges  we  can  bring  against  the  Catholic  Plan- 
tagenets,  they  certainly  never  proposed  wholesale  con- 
fiscation. That  was  reserved  for  the  Defenders  of  the 
Faith  and  Supreme  Heads  of  the  Church,  by  law  estab- 
lished. 

The  election  over,  the  crown  fitted  to  the  chosen  head, 
the  earls  graciously  dismissed  to  their  homes,  the  first 
attempt  to  introduce  the  reformation  begins.  Arch- 
bishop Browne  had  *been  a  Protestant  from  the  time  of 
his  nomination  by  the  king ;  and,  in  his  zeal  for  the  new 
doctrines,  had  more  than  once  impeded  his  master's 
diplomacy.  In  1538,  he  was  reprimanded  for  his  impru- 
dence ;  the  same  year,  he  made  a  visitation  of  his  prov- 
ince, accompanied  by  the  chancellor  and  others.  They 
extended  their  journey  as  far  south  as  Clonmel,  where 


■II 


eignty  in  ancient  Ireland.  The  authority  of  Albertus  Magnus  and 
Bartholomaius,  on  that  occasion,  was  cited,  for  they  had  divided  univer- 
sal history  thus :  — 

"  In  the  division  of  the  world,  Europe  was  subdivided  into  four  great 
kingdoms  —  1.  That  of  Rome ;  2.  That  of  Constantinople ;  3.  That 
of  Ireland ;  4.  That  of  Spain ;  Whence  it  appears  tl^  King  of  Eng- 
land, being  also  King  of  Ireland,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  kings  of 
Eurcpe." 

*  Baron  Finglas's  *«Breviate  of  Ireland,"  in  Harris's  Hibemica. 


40 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


they  were  met  by  the  Archbishops  of  Cashel  and  Tuam, 
and  the  Bishops  of  Leighlin,  Ferns,  Lismore,  <^  Immo- 
lacen,"  and  Limerick.  Browne  preached ;  "  his  sermon 
finished,"  writes  his  friend  the  chancellor, "  all  the  said 
bishops  in  all  the  open  audience  took  the  oath  mentioned 
in  the  acts  of  Parliament,  both  touching  the  king's  suc- 
cession and  supremacy  —  before  me,  the  king's  chan- 
cellor; and  divers  others  there  present  did  the  like," 
This  statement,  said  to  be  copied  from  the  original  in 
the  State  Paper  Office,  is  not  borne  out  by  Browne's 
reports  of  the  same  year,  1538,  to  Secretary  Cromwell. 
He  states,  **  I  endeavor  myself,  and  ^Iso  cause  others  of 
my  clergy,  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  set  forth 
the  king's  cause;"  with  what  success  he  does  not 
say.  The  same  year,  Agard,  an  official,  writes  to  Crom- 
well, that,  "excepte  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  only 
Lord  Butler,  the  master  of  the  rolls,  Mr.  Treasurer, 
and  one  or  two  more  of  small  reputations,  none  may 
abide  th^  hearing  of  t^  (the  king's  supremacy,)  spiritual, 
as  they  call  them,  or  temporal."  * 

The  burning  of  the  "*feaculus  Jesus,"  this  year,  was*  a 
wanton  and  fruitless  sacrilege.  It  was  a  relic  which  had 
been  held  in  universal  veneration  from  the  earliest  Chris- 
tian times.  Every  Life  of  St.  Patrick  agrees  in  the 
tradition,  that  on  his  journey  to  Rome,  it  was  given  him 
by  a  hermit  of  the  Tyrrhene  Sea,  as  a  staff  which  our 
blessed  Redeemer  himself  had  carried.  Our  earliest 
records  notice  it  as  existing  at  Armagh;  that  it  was 
used  to  swear  by,  and  to  quell  social  war.  Mailsheach- 
lan,  coming  into  the  tent  of  the  monarch,  Thurlogh 
O'Brien,  \.  D.  1080,  bearing  this  staff,  induced  him  to 
turn  back  ifrom  an  invasion  of  Leinster;  in  1143,  peace 
between  Con  naught  and  Ulster  was  ratified  by  an  oath 
taken  on  this  stan;  in  IJ S4,  it  was  translated  to  Dublin, 
probably  by  Philip  de  Worcester ;  and  so  late  as  1539, 
we  find  oa^hs  taken  <<  upon  the  holie  Masebooke  and  the 


•  *  Corresponctence  cited  in  the  Preface  to  the  Obits  and  Martyrology 
of  Christ  Church :  Dublin,  (published  by  the  Archaeological  Society  J 
1844. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


41 


great  relike  of  Erlonde,  called  Baculum  Christi,  in  pres> 
ence  of  the  king's  deputie,  chancellor,  tresoror,  and 
justice."  The  public  destruction  of  this  venerable  relic  was 
sure  to  be  bruited  abroad  over  the  kingdom,  and  equally, 
to  produce  indignation  and  opposition.  The  politicians 
interposed  to  prevent  thfe  repetition  of  such  indiscretions. 
In  another  letter,  Browne  writes  that  he  has  contradicted 
a  rumor  that  he  "  intended  to  pluck  down  oi;ir  Lady  of 
Trim  and  other  idols,"  although  he  adds,  his  heart  well 
enough  inclined  him  thereto. 

At  the  "  Great  Court "  of  1541,  an  abstract  of  the 
laws  and  ordinances  of  the  Pale  was  m  fie  and  decreed 
the  basis  of  the  future  Irish  code.  One  of  these  ordi- 
nances, thus  confirmed,  was  in  these  words :  — 

"I.  That  the  church  of  Ireland  shall  be  free  and 
enjoy  all  its  accustomed  privileges, 

"  II.  That  the  liand  of  Ireland  shall  hereafter  enjoy  all 
its  franchises  and  privileges,  as  it  used  to  do  before."  * 

Notwithstanding  these  guaranties,  the  election  of 
Henry  was  scarcely  over  when .  the  reformers  renewed 
their  work.  When  asked  their  authority,  they  produced 
a  commission  "  dated  two  years  before,"  which  consti- 
tuted Dr.  Browne  and  four  others  a  tribunal  of  inspec- 
tion and  examination.  Armed  men  attended  them  from 
church  to  church,  hewing  down  the  crucifix  with  their 
swords,  defiling  the  sacred  vessels,  and  defacing  the 
monuments  of  the  dead.  "  There  was  not,"  says  the 
contemporary  annalist,  "  a  holy  cross,  nor  an  image  of 
Mary,  nor  other  celebrated  image  in  Ireland,"  within 
the  reach  of  the  reformers,  or  near  their  fortresses,  "  that 
they  did  not  burn."  f     The  celebrated  image  at  Trim,  so 


T      ■ 


*  Ched  in  the  IrislTrioinmons'  Journals,  A.  D.  1641.  Of  course  "the 
Church  of  Ireland,"  in  Henry  VII.'s  reign,  could  only  mean  the  Holy 
Boman  Catholic  churclf. 

t  "  A.  D.  1537.  A  heresy  and  a  new  error  broke  out  in  England,  the 
effects  of  pride,  vainglory,  avarice,  sensual  desire,  and  the  prevalence  of 
a  variety  of  scientific  and  philosophical  speculations,  so  that  the  people 
of  England  went  into  opposition  to  the  pope  and  to  Borne.  At  the 
samb  time  they  followed  a  variety  of  opinions,  and  the  old  law  of  Moses, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  they  gave  the  title  of  Head 
of  the  Church  of  God  to  the  king.    There  were  enacted  by  fhe  king 


■I 


•^1 


I 


42 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


long  respited,  ^<  which  used  to  heal  the  blind,  the  deaf, 
the  lame,  and  every  disease  in  like  manner,"  —  to  which 
women  in  labor  offered  gifts,  and  all  Ireland  rendered 
respect,  —  was  "  burned  "  with  the  rest.  "  The  image  of 
Christ  crucified,  in  the  Abbey  of  Ballybogan,"  also 
suffered.  Pilgrims  were  forbidden  free  passage  through 
English  districts  and  towns,  and  the  favored  shrines  of  the 
faithful  were  all  swept  into  the  treasury  of  Dublin.  The 
commissioners  declared  that  Henry's  warrant  directed 
them  to  <^  break  in  pieces,  deform,  and  bear  away  the 
same,  so4;hat  no  fooleries  of  this  kind  might  henceforth 
forever  "be  in  use  in  the  said  land."  Nothing  loath,  they 
traversed  the  Pale,  keeping  well  clear  of  less  guarded 
ground.  The  churches  of  Dublin  fell  first  under  their 
iconoclastic  fury.  The  relics  of  St.  Brendan  and  St. 
Lawrence  in  Christ  Church  were  burned.  Of  the  statues 
but  one — the  image  of  our  Lady,  placed  over  "  Le 
Dame's  Gate,"  escaped  by  being  buried  in  the  well  of 
Whitefriars.  Its  contemporaries  all  perished.  **  The  seven 
orders  "  of  religious  were  expelled  from  three  hundred 
and  seventy  houses  by  intimidation  or  actual  force.  The 
cathedrals  of  old  Leighlin  and  Ferns  shared  the  fate  of 
St.  Patrick's,  the  English  being  masters  of  those  towns. 


and  council  new  laws  and  statutes  after  their  own  wilL  They  ruined 
the  orders  who  were  permitted  to  hold  worldly  possessions,  viz.,  monks, 
canons,  nuns,  and  brethren  of  the  Cross ;  and  the  four  mendicant  orders, 
viz.,  the  Minors,  the  Preachers,  Carmelites,  and  Augustinians.  The 
possessions  and  living  of  all  these  were  taken  up  for  the  king.  They 
broke  the  monasteries.  They  sold  their  roo&  and  bells,  so  that  there 
was  not  a  monastery  from  Arann  of  the  Saints  to  the  Icclan  Sea  that 
was  not  broken  and  shattered,  except  only  a  few  in  Ireland,  which 
escaped  the  notice  and  attention  of  the  English.  They  further  burned 
and  broke  the  famous  images,  shrines,  and  relics  of  Ireland  and  Eng- 
land.   After  that  they  burned  in  like  manner  the  celebrated  image  of 

Mary,  which  was  at  Ath-Truim, and  the  staff  of  Jesus,  which 

was  in  DuMin,  performing  miracles  from-  the  time  of  Patrick  down  to 
that  time,  and  which  was  in  the  hand  of  Christ  while  he  was  among 
men.  They  also  made  archbishops  and  sub-bishops  for  themselves; 
and  although  great  was  the  persecution  of  the  Roman  emperors  agqinst 
the  church,  it  is  not  probable  that  ever  so  great  a  persecution  as  this  ever 
eame  from  Rome  hither.  So  that  it  is  impossible  to  tell  or  narrate  its 
description,  unless  it  should  be  told  by  him  who  saw  it."  —  Annal$  of 
Uhtert  commonly  called  <*  Tko  Four  Masters" 


^  I'll  I 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


43 


The  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  gathered  by  the 
commissioners,  is  rated  (by  them)  at  j£326  2s.  lid,; 
other  stuffs  "of  superstition"  at  il710  2s.;  and  one 
thousand  pounds  of  wax  tapers,  at  j£20.  When  we 
consider  the  value  of  money  in  that  age,  this  was  no 
inconsiderable  spoil  from  four  out  of  the,  then,  numerous 
dioceses  of  the  kingdom.*  One  of  the  most  active  of  the 
commissioners  was  Chief  Baron  Finglass,  who  had  pre- 
pared shortly  before  a  "  Brevlate  of  the  State  of  Ireland," 
in  which  he  roughly  estimates  the  strength  of  the  Celtic 
chiefs ;  urges  the  policy  of  confiscating  their  lands,  and 
offering  their  "  settlement "  to  "  young  gentlemen  of  good 
family  out  of  England."  f  He  goes  into  the  details  of  this 
plunder  very  deliberately ;  and  to  him  belongs  the  first 
suggestion  of  that  series  of  confiscations  which  Eliza- 
beth, the  Stuarts,  Cromwell,  and  William  followed  up ; 
which  Cecil,  Raleigh,  Bacon,  Milton,  and  Clarendon 
advocated  or  defended;  and  which  ceased  only  when 
there  was  nothing  further  left  to  confiscate.  The  whole- 
sale civil  confiscations  were  deferred  till  the  churches 
were  first  stripped  of  their  wealth.  One  robbery  at  a 
time  was  considered  enough. 

The  monasteries  and  churches  which  stood  beyond  the 
Pale,  and  still  enjoyed  the  protection  of  native  chiefs,  were 
partly  donated  to  adventurers,  ^*if  they  could  conquer 
them,"  and  the  principal  corporators  of  walled  towns  had 
the  rest,  in  oirder  to  interest  them  in  the  progress  of  plunder. 
The  northern  abbey?  (untouched  for  many  years  after) 
were  vested  in  the  Chichesters,  Caufields,  and  renegade 
McDonnells ;  the  southern  were  conferred  on  the  Prot- 
estant Lord  Butler,  Sir  John  King,  and  others ;  the  mid- 
land and  western  on  the  Dillons,  Plunketts,  Croftons, 
Taafes,  and  the  Earls  of  Clanrickarde  and  Thomond. 
The  corporate  towns  were  also  tempted  with  the  spoils : 
Dublin  got  All  Hallows  and  other  bouses;  Drogheda 
got  Mellifont;  Limerick,   Inniscattery ;  Clonmell,  Wa- 


*  Original  Report,   Records  Office,  Dublin.    Mant's    Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ireland, 
t  *'B]feyiate  of  Ireland,"  in  Harris's  Hibemica. 


44 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


terford,  and  Carrickfergus  were  equally  endowed.  Thus 
the  interests,  the  selfish  interests,  of  a  large  body  of  bad 
men,  in  town  and  country,  became  iiiextricably  inwoven 
with  heresy,  and  the  roots  of  one  race  were  planted  in 
the  mouldering  foundations  of  the  other.  The  O'NeiU 
were  robbed  to  enrich  the  Chichesters,  the  McCarthys  to 
build  up  the  Butlers,  the  O'SuUivans  to  endow  the 
Boyles  and  Kings,  and  the  rich  abbeys  of  the  pious 
O'Connors  fell  a  prey  to  the  Burkes  and  Croftons. 
Henry's  commissioners  of  course  did  not  neglect  them- 
selves. Browne,  in  imitation  of  his  friend  Cranmer, 
had  married  a  wife,  and  pleaded  that  he  had  a  family  to 
provide  for.  He  complains  in  his  letters  that  he  was 
refused  "  Grace  Dieu "  and  *'  v<.  very  poor  abbey  of 
friars,  near  Ballymore."  As  a  consolation,  he  Was 
endowed  with  lands  and  abbeys  in  other  counties,  which 
\ye  find  his  descendants  enjoying  two  generations  later. 
After  that  his  family  vanishes  from  the  records  of  the  state. 
The  Irish  church  was  as  a  rich  argosy  abandoned 
by  its  officers,  the  civil  rulers,  to  be  rummaged  and  preyed 
on  by  pirates.  Besides  the  fifty  cathedrals  of  its  ancient 
dioceses,  Wsides  the  numerous  colleges  enriched  by  the 
piety  of  early  times,  besides  the  man^  places  of  pilgrim- 
age where  the  offerings  of  successive  centuries  were 
stored  up,  there  were,  .to  excite  avarice  and  reward 
apostasy,  nearly  six  hundred  houses  of  the  religious 
orders.  The  Augustinian  orders,  male  and  female,  could 
count  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  of  their  own  founda- 
tions ;  the  Cistercian  houses  were  forty-four ;  the  Bene- 
dictine, fourteen ;  the  Dominicans,  forty-one ;  the  Fran- 
ciscan orders,  one  hundred  and  fourteen ;  the  Carmelites, 
twenty-nine ;  the  Knights  Hospitallers,  twenty-two ;  the 
Hermits  of  St.  Augustine,  twenty-four ;  the  Trinitarians, 
lourteen ;  the  Norbertines,  eight ;  the  Bernardines,  two 
Besides  these,  there  were  a  few  houses,  under  the  rule  of 
St.  Bridget,  and  St.  Columbcille,  and  a  priory  of  Cul- 
dees   at  Armagh.*      Some  of  these   houses,   especially 


*  In  Archdall's  Monasticon  there  is  an  incomplete  list  of  five  him' 
died  and  sixty-thiee  Irish  houses  confiscated. 


M 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


40 


f 


those  of  the  Cistercian  order,  founded  at  the  time  of  the 
restoration  of  religion,  were  endowed  with  large  posses- 
sions and  many  privileges.  They  afforded  pieces  of  silver 
enough  for  every  Judas  that  could  be  found. 

Henry  VIII.  did  not  live  to  direct  the  work  he  had 
commenced.  Ulcerated  in  body  and  mind,  he  died  a 
death  of  exquisite  agony,  in  January,  1547.  The  daily 
fluctuations  of  his  creed,  during  the  last  years  of  his 
life,  had  prevented  any  regular  system  of  Protestant 
propagandism.  The  work  of  plunder,  however,  was 
zealously  carried  on  by  the  king  and  the  apostates,  high 
and  low.  That  method  of  conversion  needed  neither 
council  nor  confession  of  faith.  It  proceeded  with  com- 
plete success  in  every  shire  at  the  same  time.  In  Ireland, 
it  was  limited  only  by  the  extent  of  military  force,  at  the 
command  of  Dr.  Browne,  Lord  Butler,  Baron  Finglass, 
and  their  fellow-commissioners.  It  took  a  full  century 
to  complete  the  grand  scheme  of  sacrilege  and  spoliation 
which  they  devised. 

The  character  of  Henry,  as  exhibited  in  his  Irish 
policy,  is  a  compound  of  duplicity  and  ferocity.  His 
treacherous  execution  of  the  six  Geraldines ;  his  dis- 
simulation before  the  act  of  election,  and  his  instant 
use  of  his  new  powers  for  purposes  of  confiscation ;  his 
choice  of  agents,  in  church  and  state,  such  as  Lord 
Leonard  Grey  and  Archbishop  Browne  ;  his  imposition 
of  the  oath  of  supremacy,  —  these  high  crimes  against 
religion  and  law  fully  entitle  him  to  be  reckoned  among 
the  greatest  criminals  known  to  mankind.  He  united  all 
the  passions  of  Nero  to  all  the  crafty  intelligence  of 
Tiberius.  His  end  was  like  theirs,  a  memorable  mani- 
festation of  God's  justice  beginning  in  this  world. 

His  election  introduced  that  vicious  confusion  into  the 
civil  affairs  of  Ireland  which  has  not  yet  been  elimi- 
nated. It  altered  every  thing  old  and  salutary;  it  was 
I  a  radical  revolution.  It  substituted  an  heretical  foreign 
king,  an  apostate,  anti-national  clergy,  and  an  aristocracy 
of  conquest,  for  native  princes,  a  Catholic  hierarchy,  and 
Ithe  old  tenures  which  secured  the  soil  to  its  cultivators. 
[The  form  of  election  was  just  sufficiently  legal  to  con- 


W.'    ;         I. 


46 


^ 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


Btitute  a  de  facto  government,  and  yet  was  unconstitu- 
tional enough  to  render  debatable  every  extreme  ex- 
ercise of  its  authority.  A  doubtful  allegiance  and  a 
vicious  authority  were,  in  the  political  order,  counter- 
parts of  the  first  attempt  to  introduce  the  reformation 
into  Ireland.  We  can  hardly  be  surprised  to  find,  three 
years  after  Henry's  election,  the  Anglo-Irish  Earl  of 
Ormond  poisoned  at  London  for  opposing  his  govern- 
ment, or,  the  same  year,  (1545,)  the  Milesian  Irish  chiefs 
in  secret  treaty  with  Francis  I.  of  France,  who  sent 
John  de  Montluc,  as  his  envoy  into  Ulster.  All  they 
asked  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  England,  was  the  pope's 
sanction,  "two  thousand  arquebuses,  two  hundred  light 
horsemen,  and  four  cannon."  *  But  tlie  complications  of 
French  policy  delayed  any  action  upon  this,  the  first 
projected  Catholic  insurrection. 


CHAPTER    III. 

KING  ED  WARD  AND  QUEEN  MARY.  -  CRANMER'S  ATTEMPTS  TO 
ESTABLISH  THE  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND— THE  FIRST  CATH- 
OLIC INSURRECTION.— ACCESSION  OP   QUEEN  MART.  —  CATHOLIC 

REACTION — RESTORATION  OF  THE   IRISH  BISHOPS DEATH  OF 

QUEEN  MARY.- STATE  OF  PARTIES. 

The  boy  Edward,  son  of  Henry  VIII.  by  Lady  Jane 
8eymour,  was  crowned  king,  in  1547,  in  the  tenth  year 
of  his  age.  His  mother's  brother,  Edward  Seymour, 
duke  of  Somerset,  was  declared  protector  of  the  king- 
dom, during  the  minority  of  his  nephew. 

I'he  ruler  of  England,  in  matters  of  religion,  during 
the  reign  of  Edward,  or  rather  the  protectorate  of 
Somerset,  was  Thomas  Cranmer,  a  native  of  Notting- 
ham, who,  from  being  an  expelled  scholar  of  Oxford, 


*  Cox,  Berum  Hib.  Anglicarum. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


and  the  husband  of  the  barmaid  of  the  Dolphin  Inn, 
had  risen  to  the  rank  of  King  Henry's  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  He  had  first  attracted  the  king's  attention  by 
writing  in  favor  of  the  divorce  of  Queen  Katharine ;  he 
had  secretly  married  the  niece  of  the  ..former  Osian- 
der,  while  he  still  pretended  to  be  a  Catholic  and  a 
bishop;  he  had  assisted  at  the  marriage,  the  accusation^ 
and  sentence  of  the  four  queens,  whom  Henry  succes- 
sively espoused  and  put  away.  By  consenting  to  every 
thing,  he  had  at  last  overcome  every  thing,  and,  next 
to  the  regent,  was  the  most  powerful  man  in  the  king- 
dom. 

Ireland  attracted,  early,  Cranmer's  attention.  An  order 
in  council  commanding  the  use  of  the  new  liturgy  in 
that  kingdom  was  issued ;  another  order  commanded  the 
administration  of  the  oath  of  allegiance ;  another  trans- 
ferred the  primacy  from  Armagh  to  Dublin,  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  George  Browne.  Some  new  bishops 
of  Cranmer's  making — among  them  Dr.  Goodacre  for 
Armagh,  Dr.  Lancaster  for  Kildare,  Dr.  Bale  for  Os- 
sory,  and  Dr.  Travers  for  Leighlin  were  sent  over.  They 
were  providently  accompanied  by  six  hundred  horse 
and  four  hundred  foot,  under  Sir  Edward  Bellingham, 
"  a  man  of  great  valor,  and  celebrated  for  military  science," 
who  was  honored  with  the  title  of  "  marshal  and  cap- 
tain general  of  Ireland."  The  old  bishops,  being  sum- 
moned to  Dublin,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  boldly 
refused,  with  three  sorrowful  exceptions,  Myler  Magrath, 
Archbishop  of  Cashel,  Staples,  Bishop  of  Meath,  and 
Quinn,  or  Coyn,  Bishop  of  Limerick.  The  apostasy 
of  Magrath  alone  excited  attention,  the  other  two  being 
"nominations"  of  Henry.  The  laity  of  his  diocese 
rose  in  a  tumult  of  indignation,  and  ordered  him  to 
leave  the  city  of  Cashel,  where  Dr.  Edmund  Butler,  son 
of  the  Earl  of  Ormond,  was  enthroned  in  his  stead. 
Magrath  fled  into  England,  and  threw  himself  on  the 
bounty  of  Cranmer.  In  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  we 
find  him,  for  a  time,  intruding  in  the  see  of  Lismore,  and, 
except  in  the  polemical  songs  of  the  age,  we  hear  of 
him  no  more.    James  I.'s  captains  in  Munster  did  not 


48 


TEMP' 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


spare  his  heirs,  though  they  pleaded  their  kindred  *^  to 
Mileras,  late  archbishop."  The  other  "king's  bishops" 
succeeded  little  better.  Dr.  Goodacre,  having  the  fear  of 
Shane  O'Neil  before  his  eyes,  never  ventured  to  Armagh; 
Dr.  Bale,  under  cover  of  Ormond  Castle,  entered  Kil- 
kenny. H^  preached  "  very  peaceably  "  so  long  as  the 
Irish  did  not  understand  him ;  but  when  he  ordered  his 
menials  to  pull  down  images  and  crosses,  they  rose, 
"  slew  five  of  his  servants,  and  barely  suffered  him  to 
escape."*  Dr.  Lancaster's  diocese  lay  among  the  O'Con- 
nors and  O'Moores  of  Offally  and  Leix,  who  had  no 
very  strong  desire  for  his  administration.  They  rose  in 
arms  against  it,  and  Bellingham  marched  to  support  the 
bishop.  A  battle  was  fought  at  Three  Castles,  in  Kil- 
kenny, in  which  the  Catholics  were  defeated,  and  Maurice 
"  of  the  Wood,"  son  of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  was  taken 
prisoner.  He,  with  two  of  his  nephews,  was  executed  at 
Dublin.  The  bishop  and  the  foreign  soldiery  triumphed : 
they  built  or  repaired  forts  in  Offally  and  Leix,  and 
strongly  garrisoned  Cork,  Belfast,  and  Athlone.  These 
garrisons,  when  not  otherwise  employed,  were  allowed 
to  make  descents  upon  the  churches  and  schools  of  the 
adjacent  country.  At  Down,  they  mutilated  the  shrine 
of  Sts.  Patrick,  Bridget,  and  Columbcille.  Taking  to  their 
longboats,  the  northern  garrison  plundered  th»  shrines 
of  Rathlin  Islet,  and  coming  to  Derry,  they  assailed  the 
Black  Abbey  of  St.  Columbcille,  in  which  so  many 
princes  and  prelates  had  laid  down  mitre  and  crown. 
Here,  Shane  O'Neil's  forbearance  ended,  and  with  the 
red  hand  of  Ulster,  he  brushed  the  wretches  out.  Four 
miles  above  Athlone,  on  the  sloping  banks  of  the  Shan- 
non, stood  the  seven  churches,  the  castle,  round  tower, 
and  village  of  Clonmacnoise.  There  St.  Kiaran  died,  and 
their  Abbot  Tighernan  O'Broin,  after  the  Danish  desola- 
tions gathered  together  the  early  annals  of  our  race.  In  a 
sudden  foray,  the  garrison  of  Athlone  surrounded  Clon- 
macnoise, slew  all  its  religious  inhabitants  who  remained, 
mutilated  the  tombs  of  chiefs  and  abbots,  and  carried 

*  life  of  Dr.  Bale,  prefixed  to  his  works. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


49 


off  the  ri^h  shrine  of  its  saint.  Donald  O'Brien,  of 
Thomond,  worthy  of  his  name,  rose  in  arms  on  receiving 
this  intelligence,  captured,  in  rapid  succession,  the  garri- 
sons of  Clare  and  Limerick,  and  in  the  decisive  battle 
of  Thurles,  where,  nearly  four  centuries  before,  his  ances- 
tor had  routed  Strongbow,  he  cleared  the  southern 
counties,  for  that  generation,  of  the  reformers.* 

On  Leix  and  Offally  the  forces  of  the  captain-general 
were  concentrated.  Defeated  in  several  engagements, 
O' Moore  and  O'Connor  agreed  to  refer  their  case  to  the 
protector.  On  reaching  London,  with  some  friends, 
they  were  cast  into  the  Tower,  where  O' Moore  died  in  bis 
chains.  O'Connor's  son  found  safety  in  exil^  at  the 
court  of  Margaret  of  Scotland.  Their  districts  were 
declared  confiscated  to  the  crown,  and  in  the  next  reign 
were  called  King's  and  Queen's  county.  Bellinffham 
boasted  that  he  had  been  the  first  to  enlarge  the  Hmits 
of  "the  Pale,"  since  the  days  of  Edward  III.  This  boast 
was  not  only  well  founded  in  thi«  instance,  but  in  an- 
other; in  1550,  the  head  of  the^old  royal  house  of  Mc- 
Murrogh,  who  had  .lot  participated  in  the  election  of 
Henry,  "  made  his  submission  "  in  Dublin. 

The  lord  deputy  having  received  an  order  in  coun- 
cil, dated  the -6th  of  February,  1551,  commanding  the 
use  of  the  new  liturgy  in  all  the  churches,  in  flagrant 
violation  of  the  conditions  of  the  election  of  1;'>41,  im- 
mediately summoned  the  bishops,  as  he  had  ten  yeara, 
before  summoned  the  barons.  They  assembled,  on  the 
1st  of  March,  at  Dublin,  the  Catholics  led  by  Primate 
Dowdal,  the  heretics  by  Dr.  Browne.  After  a  lengthy 
discussion,  "  the  primate  and  his  party  left  the  assem- 
bly. The  Archbishop  of  Dublin  remained  and  received 
the  king's  order,  commending  it  to  those  of  his  brethren 
who  were  present;"  that  is,  to  Staples,  Lancaster,  Travers^ 


m 


■M 


'  m 


*  T^e  plunder  of  Clonmacnoisc  is  thus  stated  in  the  Annals :  **  They 
took  the  large  bells  out  of  the  steeple,  and  left  neither  large  nor  small 
bell,  image,  altar,  book,  gem,  nor  even  glass  in  a  window  in  the  walls  of 
the  church,  that  they  did  no£  carry  with  them ;  and  that  truly^  was  a 
lamentable  deed  to  plunder  the  city  of  St.  Kiaran,  the  patron  saint"  -r- 
Annah  of  the  Four  Masters.     A.  D.  1562. 

5 


50 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


I 

and  Coyn,  or  Quin,  who  were  already  Protectants.  On 
Easter  day  following,  Christ  Church  Cathedral  beheld 
for  the  first  time  the  "celebration  of  divine  worship  ac- 
cording to  the  English  liturgy."  The,  viceroy,  the  mavor, 
and  the  bailiffs  were  present.  Dr.  Browne  "  preacheci  an 
able  sermon  from  the  18th  verse  of  the  119th  psalm  "  — 
"  Open  mine  eyes  that  I  may  see  the  wonders  of  the  law."  * 

8t.  Leger,  having  conducted  this  second  negotiation  to 
a  result,  was  recalled  after  Easter,  and  Sir  James  Crofts 
sent  over  in  his  stead.  One  of  his  instructions  was,  "  to 
propagate  the  worship  of  God  in  the  English  tongue ; 
and  the  service  to  be  translated  into  Irish,  in  those 
places  which  need  it."  He  had  the  English  liturgy 
printed  at  Dublin  —  one  of  the  first  books  issued  there. 
He  appointed  "a  herald  at  arms,  named  Ulster,"  and 
performed,  as  his  eulogist  says, "  many  memorable  acts  " 
—  most  of  which  are  now  forgotten. 

The  death  of  Edward,  in  July,  1553,  and  the  accession 
of  Mary,  daughter  of  Katharine  of  Arragon,  gaveHhe 
harassed  Irish  church  a  reprieve.  Her  marriage  with 
Philip  of  Spain,  the  following  year,  still  farther  aug- 
mented this  hope.  Which,  for  a  season,  was  fulfilled,  so 
far  as  the  church  was  concerned.*  The  banished  bishops 
were  restored  to  their  sees,  and  the  desecrated  churches 
to  their  ancient  uses.  The  restoration  of  the  church  lands 
was  postponed,  until,  by  the  queen's  death,  it  was  ren- 
dered impossible.!  The  apostate  Anglo- Irish  nobles  con- 
formed to  their  former  faith  with  as  much  alacrity  as 
the  English  aristocracy.  With  the  exception  6f  some 
of  the  remoter  Irish  chiefs,  the  heads  of  the  Milesians 
were  all  at  peace  with  the  state ;  Donald  O'Brien  and 
Shane  O'Neil  included.  When,  in  the  last  year  of  Mary, 
her  deputy  marched  from  Dublin  to  Galway,  he  met  no 
opposition  on  the  way.     It  is  stated  that  "  the  bishops 


*  Sir  R.  Cox's  Rerum  Hib.  Ang.  Rev.  R.  King's  Book  of  the  Irish 
Churcli. 

t  The  priprv  of  Kilmainham,  restored  to  the  knights  of  St.  John,  was 
the  only  act  oi  restitution  of  this  kind  of  property  in  Mary's  short  reign. 
Doubtless,  if  she  had  lived,  the  other  religious  estates  would  also  have 
been  restored  to  the  right  owners. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


01 


and  clergy  of  Tuani,Clonfert,  and  Clonmacnoise  went  out 
to  meet,  nim  in  procession."  The  Spanish  marriage  had  a 
great  effect  in  preparing  the  irritated  and  insurrectionary 
spirit  of  the  Irish  people  for  peace.  In  Philip,  and  in 
Philip's  influence,  they  had  every  confidence ;  nor  was 
the  queen  without  her  personal  claims  tditheir  regard. 
Apart  from  the  heroic  constancy  with  which  she  had 
persevered  in  the  profession  and  practice  of  her  faith, 
she  had  other  good  qualities,  in  Irish  eyes. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward,  we  have  seen  that  O'Connor, 
of  Oflally,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Six  years  he 
lingered  on  in  that  gloomy  prison,  from  which,  at  length, 
he  wa&  delivered,  in  this  romantic  fashion.  "  Margaret, 
[his  daughter]  went  to  England  on  the  strength  of  her 
friends  there  and  of  her  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, to  ask  the  release  of  her  father  from  Queen 
Mary ;  and  havirig  appealed  to  her  mercy,  she  obtained 
the  release  of  her  father,  whom  she  brought  back  with 
her  to  Ireland."*     Her  praise  was  in  every  mouth,  in 


*  This  heroism  of  Margaret  O'Connot  was  hereditary  in  the  women 
of  her  family.  Three  generations  earlier,  another  Margaret,  daughter  of 
O' Carroll,  married  O'Connor,  chief  of  Offally,  retaining,  after  her  mar- 
riage, (a  not  unusual  custom  with  our  ancestresses,)  her  maiden  name. 
Several  traits  of  her  character,  given  in  M'Firbiss's  Annals,  prove  her  to 
have  been  a  woman  of  remarkable  spirit  and  capacity.  Thus  we  read 
of  her  pilgrimage  to  Compostella,  and  how  the  English  of  Trim,  having 
taken  several  Irishmen,  her  neighbors,  prisoners,  and  her  lord  having  in 
his  keeping  certain  English  prisoners,  she  "  went  to  Bcleathatruim,  and 
gave  aU  the  English  prisoners  for  Magco^han's  tion,  and  for  the  son's  son 
of  ^rt,  and  that  unadvised  to  Calagh,  and  she  brought  them  home."  — 
Mis.  Irish  Arch.  Society,  vol  i.  p.  212.  —  "  It  was  she,"  says  the  same 
annalist,  '*  that  twice  in  one  year  proclaimed  to,  and  commonly  in- 
vited, (in  the  dark  days  of  the  yeare,)  on  the  feast  day  of  Da  Sinchel  in 
Killaichy,  all  persons,  both  Irish  and  Scottish,  or  rather  Albians,  to  the 
general  feasts."  The  numbers  who  usually  attended  these  feasts  are  set 
down  as  ••  upwards  of  2006,"  by  somie  at  2700.  It  is  stated  also,  •'  she 
was  the  ony  [one  ?]  woman  that  has  made  most  of  preparing  highways 
and  erecting  bridges,  churches,  and  mass  books,  and  of  all  manner  of 
things  profitable  to  serve  God  and  her  soul."  Her  death,  from  cancer  of 
the  breast,  is  very  pathetically  bemoaned,  as  well  as  it  might  be  by  the 
MTirbiss  of  her  time.  It  took  place  in  1461,  which  is  called  on  that 
account  *<  an  Ungratious  and  unglorious  yeare  to  all  the  learned  in  Ire- 
land, both  philosophers,  poets,  guests,  strangers,  religious  persons,  sol- 
diers, mendicants,  or  poor  orders,  and  to  all  manner  and  sorts  of  poor  in 
Ireland."  —  Mia.  Irish  Arch.  Soc.  vol.  i. 


52 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    T([E 


her  time,  and  Queen  Mary's  was  not  forgotten.  It  was 
the  first,  and  we  believe  it  remains  almost  the  only,  case 
on  record,  where  an  English  sovereign  extended  mercy 
to  an  Irish  patriot  prisoner. 

Not  alone  in  this,  but  in  other  cases,  did  Queen  Mary 
do  justice  towards  the  Irish  race.  Gerald  and  Edward, 
sons  of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  who  had  been  sixteen  years 
in  exile  in  France  and  Rome,  were  restored  to  their 
estates  and  titles.  The  heir  of  Fitzpatrick,  Earl  of  Qs- 
sory,  was  also  permitted  to  return,  and  resume  his  rank 
and  property.  "  The  greater  part  of  the  south  of  Ireland 
were  much  rejoiced "  at  this  unhoped-for  restoration  of 
ancient  Catholic  families.  The  towns  and  cities  were  in 
special  good  humor.  The  only  retaliatory  measures  they 
took  against  the  reformers  was  the  infliction  of  some 
nicknames.  No  Protestant  suffered  in  life,  or  limb,  or 
property.  Nay,  adds  one  of  themselves,  "  Such  was  the 
general  toleration,  that  many  English  families,  friends  to 
the  reformation,  took  refuge  in  Ireland,  and  there  en- 
joyed their  opinions  and  worship  without  molestation."* 
Cranmer's  bishops  were  allowed,  without  hindrance,  to 
quit  the  country.  Dr.  Leverous  was  restored  in  Kildare, 
and  Dr.  Walsh,  banished  by  Cranmer,  in  Meath ;  Dr.  Hugh 
Curwin  was  appointed  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  chan- 


m 


*  Taylor's  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  i.  The  following  Protestant 
anecdote  of  this  reign  is  inserted  for  "  what  it  is  worth  "  :  —  ••  Mary 
despatched  Dr.  Cole  to  Ireland  with  a  commission  for  punishing  the 
Protestants  ;  Cole  stopped  at  Chester,  and  being  waited  on  by  the  mayor, 
a  Komanist,  Dr.  Cole's  zeal  outran  his  discretion,  and  he  exclainled  to 
the  mayor,  while  holding  up  a  leathern  box,  "  Here  is  a  connnission  that 
shall  lash  the  heretics  of  Ireland."  The  landlady,  Elizabeth  Edmonds, 
who  was  a  Protestant,  and  had  a  brother  of  the  same  creed  in  Dublin, 
became  alarmed,  watched  her  opportunity,  and  placed  a  pack  of  cards, 
wrapped  up  in  a  sheet  of  paper,  and  abstracted  the  commission.  Dr. 
Cole  arrived  in  Dublin,  7th  October,  1658.  The  lord-lieu  onant  con- 
vened a  full  council  to  receive  D'-.  Cole  and  hear  the  queen's  commission 
read,  but  when  "^ith  great  solemnity  the  box  was  opened,  nothing  but  a 
pack  of  cards  was  found.  The  astonished  doctor  declared  he  had  received 
a  commission,  and  proceeded  to  England  to  obtain  another,  or  a  copy ; 
but  while  on  his  journey,  the  brief  but  iniquitous  career  of  Mary  was 
stopped,  and  the  lives  of  many  Protestants  were  saved.  Mrs.  Ed- 
monds received  a  pension  of  forty  pounds  a  year  from  Queen  Eliza- 
beth." —  Quoted  in  Martin's  «•  Ireland." 


'  f 


PROTESTANT  HEFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


53 


cellor.  The  pope,  (Paul  IV.,)  in  June,  1555,  confirmed 
the  title  to  the  kingdom,  which  Mary  inherited  from  her 
father.  A  national  synod,  held  the  same  year,  restored 
the  canons  law,  and  effected  much  for  the  purity  of 
religion  throughout  the  island.  In  1556,  an  Irish  Par- 
liament sat  at  Dublin ;  thence  was  prorogued  to  Limerick, 
and  afterwards  to  Drogheda.  Very  important  laws  and 
ordinances  were  ordained  in  these  sittings. 

"  Cox  mentions  some  acts  of  this  Parliament  which 
"  had  not  been  printed.  In  them  the  queen's  legitimacy 
"  was  admitted ;  she  was  invested  with  royal  authority, 
"  and  her  posterity  declared  entitled  to  inherit  the  crown 
"of  England  and  Ireland;  heresy  was  made  liable  to 
"  punishment,  and  ordered  to  be  suppressed  ;  all  the  acts 
"  which  were  passed  against  the  pope,  since  the  twentieth 
"  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  were  repealed,  and  all 
"  concessions  made  by  Archbishop  Brown  were  declared 
"  null  and  void  ;  the  first  fruits  too  were  restored  to  the 
"  church ;  but  all  these  statutes  were  annulled  in  the  be- 
"  ginning  of  the  succeeding  reign.  An  act  was  also  passed 
"  for  granting  the  queen  a  subsidy  of  thirteen  and  four- 
"  pence  on  every  plough-land ;  and  another,  by  which  it 
"was  prohibited,  under  pain  of  felony,  to  introduce  or 
"receive  armed  Scotchmen  into  Ireland,  or  to  inter- 
"  marry  with  them,  without  a  license  under  the  great 
«  seal." 

This  last  law  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that  a  Scot- 
tish settlement  had  been  formed  in  Antrim,  by  the  Mc- 
Donnell's and  others,  who  held  that  country  by  main 
force  and  the  connivance  of  O'Neil.  The  Scottish  and 
Irish  Gael  had  always  considered  themselves  one  people, 
and  in  no  respect  did  they  more  entirely  agree  than  in 
hatred  of  the  Saion.  In  the  summer  of  1556,  they 
besieged  Carrickfergus,  the  garrison  of  which  had  given 
them  much  trouble;  but  the  Lord  Deputy  Sussex, 
marching  northward,  defeated  them  with  great  loss. 
They  still,  however,  kept  their  forts  and  fields  in  the 
glens  of  Antrim. 

The  only  native  opposition  to  Queen  Mary  arose  from 
the  despotic  attempts  of  Sussex  and  Sidney  to  substi- 

5* 


g 


%\ 


a 


04 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


111  I 


tute  the  English  for  the  Brehon  law.  Donald  O'Brien 
and  Shane  O'Neil  equally  resisted  the  abolition  of  the 
old  law  of  the  land.  Both  maintained  that  the  source 
of  nobility  was  the  election  by  the  tribe  ;  that  the  land 
of  each  clan  belonged  in  common  to  its  members,  who 
had|  however,  the  right  to  dispose  of  their  part,  with  the 
general  consent;  that  the  customs,  or  Celtic  common 
law,  of  gossipred,  gavelkind,  and  coshering,  answering  to 
the  old  English  usages  of  .maintenance,  fosterage,  and 
gavelkind,  were  just  and  wise^  and  ought  to  stand ; 
that  hereditary  Brehons  were  better  judges  than  royal 
barons.  In  short,  they  contended  for  all  the  former 
law  of  Ireland,  excepting  only  that  part  regulating  the 
supreme  power.  After  some  warlike  demonstrations  of 
the  deputies,  some  castles  and  skirmishes  won  and  lost, 
they  finally  made  peace  with  O^Neil,  at  Kilmainham^, 
and  O'Brien  at  Dangan,  in  which  they  conceded  to 
Ulster  and  Munster  the  free  exercise  of  the  Brehon 
law. 

On  the  17th  November,  1558,  Mary  died  at  St;  James's 
palace,  Westminster;  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
died  before  her,  and  Cardinal  Pole  on  the  following  day. 
King  Philip  was  .absent  in  Spain ;  the  Catholics  were 
left  without  a  head.  The  Protestants,  on  the  contrary, 
had  kept  up  a  compact  organizafioji  during  this  reign. 
The  mercantile  jealousy  of  Spain,  the  national  humilia- 
tion of  the  loss  of  Calais,  and  the  intrigues  of  those  who 
had  forfeited  the  possession  of  power  by  their  conduct 
in  former  reigns,  sustained  that  combination.  They  can 
only  be  characterized  by  the  term  party;  for  they  had  all 
the  strength  and  weakness  of  party.  They  procured  a 
vote  of  the  Parliament  declaring  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Anne  Boleyn,  heiress  to  the  throne.  She  was  crowned 
in  Westminster,  according  to  the  Roman  ritual,  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  officiating.  Dr.  Heath,  Archbishop  of 
York,  and  other  prelates,  refused  to  attend. 

These  six  years  of  Mary's  reign  were  highly  useful  to 
the  Irish  church  as  a  breathing  space,  as  a  truce  between 
two  battles.  It  ^demonstrated  the  hollowness  of  that 
court  religion  which  was  put  on  and  off  like  a  garment, 


'■'■   'HI 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


55 


and  it  enabled  the  hierarchy  to  strengthen  their  defences, 
and  to  recruit  their  broken  orden  The  storm  that  now 
arose  found  it  with  full  and  well-ordered  ranks,  and  prel- 
ates prepared  to  meet  martyrdom  rather  than  apostaisy. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  IRISH  CATHOLIC  ^TRENOTH  AT  THE  ACCESSION  OF  ELIZA- 
BBFH.  — TEST  OATHS  ENACTED.  —  FIRST  CATHOLKT  CONFEDERA- 
CY.-THE  INSURRECTION  OF  THE  DESMONDS.  -  CONFISCATION 
OF  MUNSTER.— THE  FIRST  MARTYRS.  — THE  ULSTEK  PRINCES.— 

SECOND  CATHOLIC  CONFEDERATION ALLIANCE  WITH  SPAIN.— 

BATTLE  OF  KINSALE 

When  Elizabeth  was  crowned,  there  were  about  sixty 
great  chiefs,  <)>  princes,  in  Ireland,  all  of  whom  pos- 
sessed actual  .'  '  and  military  power.  .  Perhaps  forty 
were  Milesiant  <-: :  remainder  Anglo-Normans.  Cuttinff 
a  crescent  out  of  the  Leinster  sid^pf  it,  the  Island  was  stiU 
Celtic.  The  Brehon  laws  were  ^ill  administered  in  three 
of  the  provinces :  the  chiefs  spoke  Latin,  French,  or  Eng- 
lish, and  the  people  under  their  banners  still  cherished  their 
native  tongue  and  native  customs.  Well  organized,  this 
force  would  be  a  formidable  opposition.  The  O'Neil  could 
command  six  thousand  foot  and  one  thousand  horse ;  the 
Earl  of  Desmond,  lord  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
acres  of  the  most  ifruitful  soil  of  Munster,  could  count  five 
hundred  knights  of  his  own  name,  each  of  whom  stood  for 
a  dozen«armed  men ;  the  O'Brien  and  his  suffragans  could 
command  nearly  equal  force,  and  the  western  and  Leinster 
chiefs  as  many  more.  With  a  population  of  little  more 
than  a  million,  Ireland  had  a  total  of  nearly  fifty  thousand 
men  in  arms  throughout  this  long  reign,  though  never  in 
one  particular  place,  nor  under  one  general-in-chief.  The 
result  teaches  how  vainly  provincial  forces  must  struggle 
for  liberty  if  national  unity  does  not  inspire  and  concen- 
trate their  efforts. 


m 


t    ! 


fi 


I 


■  r 


wy* ' 


'9f, 


56 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


I  m 


m, 


The  acts  of  supremacy,  and  uniformity,  in  the  outset 
of  the  new  reign,  showed  Catholics  what  they  had  to 
expect.  By  the  one,  all  clergymen  and  laymen  holding 
church  property  or  civil  office  should  swear  to  receive  the 
queen's  headship  of  the  church — to  deny  this  thrice  was 
treason ;  by  the  other,  none  but  the  established  liturgy 
was  to  be  used  by  clergymen,  on  pain  of  perpetual  im- 
prisonment, and  absence  from  the  established  churches 
on  Sunday  entailed  a  fine  of  one  shilling  on  laymen. 
The  oath  of  supremacy,  by  a  retrospective  enactment,  was 
to  be  put  to  all  who  held  public  office,  had  taken  a 
degree  abroad,  or  were  engaged  in  the  profession  of  the 
laws.  Members  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  to  be 
tested  by  it ;  the  peers  were  exempt.  Elizabeth's  first  Irish 
deputy,  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Sussex,  called  a  Dub- 
lin Parliament  in  1559 ;  but,  though  the  attendance  was 
inconsiderable,  its  acts  were  held  to  be  ever  after  binding. 

At  this  Parliament  was  passed,  among  other  acts, "  an 
acte  for  the  uniformytie  of  common  prayer  and  service 
in,  the  churche  and  admynystration  of  the  sacraments  in 
the  church." 

**  An  acte  againste  suche  persons  as  shall  unreverentlye 
speake  agaynst  the  sacrament  of  the  bodye  and  blode  of 
Christe,  commonlye  called  the  sacrament  of  the  alter, 
and  for  the  xeceivynge  thereof  under  bothe  kyndes." 

"  An  acte  restoring  the  crowne  the  auncient  jurisdis- 
tion  over  the  state  ecclesiasticall  and  spiritual!,  and 
abolyshinge  all  power  repugnant  to  the  same." 

**  An  acte  foe  the  conferrynge  and  consecratynge  of 
archebushopps  and  busHbpps  within  this  realme." 

By  the  same  Parliament,  the  late  "  pryorye  or  hos- 
pytall  of  Seynt  Jones  Jerusalem,"  in  Ireland,  was 
restored  to  the  crown. 

In  the  subsequent  session,  which  began  in  1560,  an 
act  was  passed,  of  which  the  most  important  clauses 
were  — 

"  Sec.  V.  No  foreign  power  to  exercise  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  in  this  realm. 

"  Sec.  VI.  Such  jurisdiction  annexed  to  the  crown. 

"  Sec.  VII.  Ecclesiastical  persons  and  officers,  judges, 


&i 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


57 


justices,  mayors,  temporal  officers,  and  every  other  person 
that  hath  the  queen's  wages,  to  take  the  oath  of  su- 
premacy. 

"Sec.  VIII.  Penalty  for  refusing  the  oathj  forfeiture 
of  office,  and  of  promotion  during  life. 

"fiJec.  XVII.  Commissioners  to  exercise  spiritual  juris- 
diction shall  not  adjudge  any  thing  heresy,  but  what  is 
80  judged  by  the  canonical  Scriptures,  or  the  first  four 
general  councils,  or  any  other  general  council,  or  by 
Parliament" 

All  bishops  and  archbishops,  ^  in  the  name  of  God," 
were  called  on  to  aid  in  enforcing  the  same.  And,  lest 
the  old  bishops  should  fail  of  their  part,  even  so  con- 
jured, a  set  of  queen's  bish  :)ps  were  duly  inducted.  One 
Sheyn  was  entitled  Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  Ross,  and  com- 
menced his  career  at  Cork  by  burning  the  image  of  St 
Dominic;  a  successor  to  Dr.  Bale  was  set  down  in 
Ossory,  and  forty  principal  citizens  of  Kilkenny  gave 
heavy  bonds  to  attend  his  ministrations ;  one  Brady  was 
made  queen's  bishop  of  Meath,  and  Adam  Loftus,  fellow 
of  Cambridge,  aged  twenty-eight  years,  whose  "comely 
person  and  good  address  pleased  the  queen,''  was  made 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  over  which  he  watched  solici- 
tously from  the  safe  distance  of  Dublin  Castle.  The 
^'recusant"  bishops  (this  was  the  English  synonyme  forthe 
faithful)  were  obliged  to  throw  themselves  on  the  native 
princes  for  protection,  and  with  them  in  Munster  and 
Ulster,  they  found  safety  yet  a  while.  The  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, O'Brien,  and  O'Neil  were  the  champions  of  the 
persecuted  churchmen.  O'Neil,  especially,  distinguished 
himself  in  the  first  years  of  Elizabeth.  A  troop  of  horse, 
under  one  Randolph,  having  landed  at  Derry,  stabled 
their  horses  in  St  Columbcille's  church.  Roused  by 
this  profanation,  O'Neil  besieged  them ;  Randolph  was 
defeated  and  slain,  and  Derry  taken.  In  like  manner  he 
drove  another  sacrilegious  garrison  from  Armagh,  leaving 
the  queen  no  fortress  north  of  Dundalk.  In  1564,  de- 
spairing of  hi^  subjugation,  the  deputy  employed  I'iers, 
a  spy,  to  assassinate  him.  Under  pretence  of  peace,  the 
assassin  m^t  him  ftt  McDonnell's,  of  Antrim,  proour^  a 


m- 

mi 

■1 

■  "rf 

■'\M 

¥A 


Xi 


58 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THB 


quarrel,  stabbed  iiim,  and  brought  his  head,  <'  pickled,  in 
a  pipkin,"  to  Dublin  Castle.  For  this  service  Piers  had 
"  a  thousand  marks,"  from  the  queen. 

Thuriogh  was  the  next  O'Neil.  In  1587,  Hugh,  grand- 
son to  Con,  was  duly  elected,  the  last  and  perhaps  the 
ablest  of  his  able  family,  who  bore  the  title  of  "  Prince  of 
XJlster." 

Desmond  was  guilty  of  three  offences  against  the 
queen's  majesty  —  his  immense  estate,  his  marriage  of  a 
daughter  ot  O'Brien,  and  his  hospitality  to  Leverus,  the 
"  recusant "  Bishop  of  Kildare.  To  complete  his  guilt, 
he  refused  to  take  the  oaths.  The  E&rl  of  Ormond  and 
Sir  William  Drury  were,  in  turn,  commanders  of  a 
southern  army  sent  to  chastise  him.  By  the  former  the 
earl  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  at  Affane,  in  1564, 
sent  to  London,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Exchanged 
to  Dublin  ten  years  afterwards,  to  use  his  influence  oyer 
his  brothers  then  in  arms,  he  effected  his  escape,  during 
a  hunting  party,  the  following  year,  and,  onee  back  amid 
his  people,  he  prepared  for  open  war.  With  this  view 
he  strengthened  himself  by  marriage  with  the  daughter 
of  McCarthy,  (his  first  wife  being  dead,)  made  alliance 
with  other  powerful  neighbors,  and  despatched  his  gal- 
lant brother,  James,  (to  whose  fraternal  care  he  owed  his 
liberty,)  to  the  pope  and  the  King  of  Spain.  After  the 
election  of  the  English  dynasty,  this  was  the  first  suc- 
cessful effort  at  an  offensive  alliance  with  a  foreign  power. 

In  Madrid,  James  of  Desmond  was  cordially  received 
by  King  Philip  and  by  the  legate,  Cardinal  Granville. 
His  two  sons  were  placed  at  the  University  of  Alcala, 
and  himself  lodged  in  the  king's  house.  At  this  time, 
th^  Netherlands  were  in  arms  against  Spain,  Elizabeth 
privately  abetting  them.  Philip  retaliated  by  tilliance 
with  the  Desmonds.  If  he  had  before  conceived  the 
expedition  of  <'  the  Armada,"  he  now  hastened  his  reso- 
lution; and  soon  after  that  memorable  fleet  began  to 
grow  beneath  the  hands  of  his  skilful  shipwrights  at 
Cadiz  and  Seville. 

From  Madrid,  in  1580,  James  proceeded  to  Rome, 
where,  on  the  13th  of  May,  Gregory  XIII.  issued  his 


i      ,! ' 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


59 


bull,  granting  to  all  who  would  take  up  arms  under 
him  <'  the  same  indulgence  granted  to  those  who  fought 
against  the  Turks  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land," 
the  indulgence  to  extend  '^  during  the  lifetime  of  James 
and  his  brother  John."  *  At  Rome,  under  the  name  of 
Stukely,*was  an  Irish  refugee,  supposed  to  be  a  chief  of 
the  Kavanagh  or  McMurrogh  family;  Created  by  Greg- 
ory, Marquis  of  Ross  and  Duke  of  Leinster,  he  had 
command  of  two  thousand  Romans  for  an  invasion  of 
Ireland.  Desmond  was  to  precede  him,  after  a  rapid 
visit  to  France  and  Spain :  "^nr  tordingly  yre  soo"  hnd 
the  successful  emissary  c-  the  ist  of  Kerry.  "  V^th 
such  troops  as  he  had,  he  marched  towards  Connaught 
to  form  a  junction  with  the  Burkes,  was  intercepted,  and 
mortally  wounded.  Calling  to  him  Dr.  Allan,  afterwards 
cardinal,  his  then  chaplain,  he  confessed  his  sins,  received 
extreme  unction,,  and  expired. 

The  Romans,  under  Stukely,  had  put  into  the  Tagus 
just  as  Don  Sebastian  was  departing  on  his  Moorish  expe- 
dition. Allured  probably  by  some  promises  of  future 
aid,  he  accompanied  the  Portuguese  hero  to  the  African 
shore,  and  fell  on  the  bloody  field  of  Alcaquivir,  in  that 
ferocious  meUe  where  Don  Sebastian  and  his  rival, 
Muley  Moloc,  both  perished. 

John,  brother  of  the  late  James,  and  of  the  earl,  now 
took  the  lead,  and  continued  the  war.  At  Monow,  in 
Limerick,  he  routed  the  English,  under  the  Duke  of  York, 
so  badly,  that  the  Earl  of  Ormond  from  England,  and 
Lord  Deputy  Grey  from  Dublin,  were  ordered  to  Munster 
with  reenforcements.  As  a  set-off,  eight  hundred  Italian 
and  Spanish  veterans,  under  Stephen  San  Joseph,  arrived 
from  Spain,  on  the  coast  of  Kerry.  Hearing  of  the 
approach  of  a  powerful  army,  they  fortified  themselves 
in  an  island  called  Oillan  na  Oro,  calling  their  works 
"  Fort, Del  Oro."  The  position  was  a  vital  one,  since  by 
it  Spain  could  command  a  harbor  and  landing-place  in 
Ireland  for  future  operations,  and  San  Joseph  seems 
to  have    made  a  very  resolute  defence.      The  grand 


I  ♦ 


*  O'Daljr's  History  of  the  Geraldines ;  where  several  bulls  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Catholic  wars  of  Ireland  are  given.  ' 


ATTEMPTS   TO  SSTABLISH   THE 


inquisitor  of  Portugal,  O'Daly,  a  native  of  the  district, 
and  contemporary  of  the  event,  thus  records  the  siege  of 
Del  Oro :  *- 

"  After  the  viceroy  had  invested  the  Gblden  Fort  by 
^  sea  and  land,  and  kept  up  a  continual  fire  on  it  for 
^  about  forty  days,  the  English  began  to  be  weary  of 
*f  their  fruitless  attempts,  and  to  dread  the  rigors  of  the 
"  coming  winter.  They  knew,  moreover,  that  they  could 
*^  not  take  up  their  winter  quarters  in  the  open  field 
**  against  a  garrison  so  well  furnished  with  guns  and 
*<  provisions.  And,  having  maturely  weighed  all  these 
**  matters,  they  resolved  to  seize  by  fraud  that  which 
"  their  arms  could  not  achieve. 

"  Having  sent  the  Spaniards  a  flag  of  truce,  they  de- 
'*  manded  a  parley.  In  the  Spanish  garrison  there  was 
*'  at  that  moment  an  Irish  cavalier,  named  Plunket,  who 
"  protested  against  any  overture,  and  •vainly  sought*  to 
*^  dissuade  San  Joseph  from  visiting  the  English  com- 
^  mander's  camp ;  but  he  was  not  listened  to,  and  San 
"  Joseph  at  once  proceeded  to  the  viceroy's  quarters, 
**  bringing  Plunket  with  him  to  act  as  interpreter.  They 
"  were  received  with  the  greatest  blandness  and  courtesy 
"  by  Grey,  who  promised  the  Spanish  commandant  the 
"  most  honorable  terms  if  he  would  surrender  the  for- 
"  tress.  Now,  Plunket  interpreted  all  the  viceroy  ad- 
**  vanced  as  the  very  opposite  of  what  he  really  said  — 
**  namely,  iiiat  the  garrison  had  no  chance  of  escaping 
"  destruction  if  they  did  not  throw  themselves  altogether 
"  on  the  mercy  of  the  English,  and  beg  terms  of  him. 
"  Greatly  did  oan  Joseph  marvel  at  this  insolence,  which 
^^  denied  him  and  his  honorable  terms ;  as  he  then  held  a 
"  place  which,  in  the  opinion  of  all,  was  deemed  one 
"  of  the  strongest  in  Ireland,  and  amply  provisioned  to 
"  hold  out  many  months'  siege.  Whereon  Plunket  in- 
"  tei^reted  that  the  commander  had  made  up  his  mind 
"  never  to  surrender  the  garrison ;  and,  consequently,  that 
•"  it  was  only  sacrificing  his  men  if  the  viceroy  sat  a^iy 
"  longer  before  it.  But  the  expression  of  Plunket's 
**  features,  and  the  fiery  indignation  of  the  Spaniard, 
**  caused  Grey  to  suspect  that  his  words  had  not  been 


Ir 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


61 


((  fairly  interpreted ;  and  then  Planket  was  bound,  hand 
'^  and  foot,  and  committed  to  prison,  another  interpreter 
'<  having  been  procured  to  supply  his  place. 

"  San  Joseph,  having  returnea  to  the  fort,  reported  to 
*<  his  men  that  he  had  obtained  the  most  unexception- 
"  able  terms,  and  that,  seeing  the  defence  of  the  fortress 
"  utterly  impracticable,  he  had  resolved  to  consult  the 
''  safety  of  his  soldiers.  But  even  in  his  chains  did 
"  Plunket  cry  out,  *  Treason !  treason  !  Mind  you,  that 
'<  on  the  holding  of  the  fortress  all  the  hopes  of  thcCatho- 
''  lies  depend.  The  very  inclemency  of  the  season  must 
"  compel  the  viceroy  to  quit  the  field  ere  long.  The 
<'  Geraldines,'  continued  he,  <  are  hastening  to  aid  you 
<'  with  men  and  supplies.  Abandon  your  position,  and 
"the  hopes  of  the  Catholics  are  forever  lost!'  Of 
"  Plunket's  opinion  were  Hercules  Pisano  and  the  Duke 
"  of  Biscay ;  but  the  soldiers  gave  willing  ear  to  their 
"  commander,  who,  preferring  life  to  glory,  forfeited  both ; 
"  for  the  place  being  surrendered  in  the  month  of  De- 
"  cember,  the  entire  garrison  was  put  to  the  sword,  with 
"  the  exception  of  the  Spanish  commander,  who  was 
"  contemptuously  driven  out  of  the  kingdom.  Plunket, 
"  too,  was  reserved  for  a  more  painful  death.  A  short 
"  time  after  the  rendition,  he  had  all  his  bones  broken  by 
"  strokes  of  a  hammer,  and  thus  gave  up  the  ghost. 
"  Ever  after  did  '  Grey's  faith '  become  an  adage  among 
"  the  people,  whenever  they  would  speak  of  consuni- 
* "  mate  perfidy.  Behold  what  value  these  English  at- 
"  tached  to  treaties,  oaths,  and  honor,  which  amongst 
"  savage  nations  are  esteemed  inviolable." 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  then  in  his  thirty-fifth  year,  and 
already  favored  by  his  queen,  won  his  first  laurels  and 
several  thousands  of  Desmond's  acres,  by  superintend- 
ing the  details  of  the  massacre  after  the  surrender  of  the 
fort.     This  date  is  November  9, 1587. 

In  the  same  year,  John  of  Desmond  was  surprised  and 
8l|in  near  Imokilly,  and  soon  after  Elizabeth  published 
an  amnesty  to  all  who  were  in  arms,  except  the  brother- 
less  earl  and  two  of  his  allies.  The  outlawed  Desmond, 
defeated  in  his  attempts  to  raise  another  insurrection, 
6 


\ 

*   I  .^ 


r  ' 


n 


;i: 


62 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


was  assassinated  in  a  forest  in  Kerry)  in  the  month 
of  December.  He  was  the  last  of  his  line  who  exercised 
sovereignty  over  South  Munster,  from  the  Blackwater  to 
the  r  .jannon.  «  ' 

The  fate  of  this  illustrious  family  is  worth  summing 
up.  We  have  seen  the  earl  and  his  two  brothers  die  by 
the  sword.  A  fourth,  Thomas,  had  previously  died  on 
his  bed.  They  all  had  children ;  but  one  only  apostatized 
—  the  earl's  sou,  from  his  childhood  a  hostage  in  London. 
The  sons  of  James  and  John  being  abroad,  and  the  son 
of  the  earl  a  hostage,  the  son  of  Thomas  was  elected 
chief.  Elizabeth,  thereupon,  released  the  young  earl, 
who,  on  entering  Kilmallock,  hia  father's  town,  was 
received  with  acclamations,  the  people  showering  wheat 
and  salt  on  him  from  the  housetops,  emblematic  of 
the  safety  and  plenty  they  wished  him.  The  Sunday 
following,  they  were  surprised  to  see  him  turn  his  steps 
towards  the  heretical  church  from  which  they  strove  "  to 
dehort  him."  *  He  persisted,  however ;  but  on  coming  out, 
they  hooted  and  spat  upon  him.  From  that  day  he 
never  was  followed  or  spoken  of  by  name  in  Desmond. 

Thomas,  taken  captive,  after  a^ confinement  of  seven 
years  in  the  Tower  of  London,  died  in  his  chains. 

The  two  sons  of  James,  educated  at  Alcala,  perished 
in  the  Armada  of  1588,  upon  the  Galway  coast. 

Another  James,  shipwrecked  in  Scotland,  escaped  to 
Spain.  He  was  created  count  there,  at  the  instance  of 
the  grand  inquisitor,  O'Daly,  a  clansman  of  his  ances- 
tors. Charged  with  the  defence  of  a  Spanish  town,  he 
refused  to  surrender  it  to  the  French,  and  was  starved  to 
death.f  His  descendants,  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  were  historical  men  in  Spain. 

So  perished  this  illustrious  Catholic  family,  whose 
once  fertile  principality, in  contendingfor  the  faith,  was 
"  reduced  to  a  heap  of  carcasses  and  ashes."  j: 


*  Facata  Hibemia,  p.  164. 

t  O'DalVs  History  of  the  Geraldines,  p.  179,  (Meehaa's  translation.) 
Daffy,  Dublin,  1847. 
X  Pacata  Hibemia. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND.       68 

ilere  we  give  some  of  the  confiscations  in  the  south 
of  Ireland  which  followed  the  insurrection  of  the  Des* 
monds :  — 

Acres. 

Co.  Waterford,  Sir  Christopher  Hutton,    -        -  10,910 

Co.  Cork  and  Waterford,  Sir  W.  Raleigh,     -        .      12,000 

Co.  Kerry,  Sir  Edward  Denny,       -        -        -        -    6,000 

lb.        Sir  William  Harbart,    ....      13,276 

lb.        Charles  Harbart, 8,768 

lb.        John  Holly,  .        .        -        -        -        4,422 

lb.        Capt.  Jenkin  Conway,       .        -        -        .526 
lb.        John  Champion,    -        -        .        .        -        1,434 
Cork,  Sir  Warham  St.  Leger,  -        .  "    -        .-       .     6,000 
lb.    Hugh  Caff,       -        -        -        -        -        -        6,000 

lb.    Su:  Thomas  Norris,      -        -        -        -        -     6,000 

lb.    Arthur  Robms, 1,800 

lb.    Arthur  Hide,       - 6,574 

lb.  Francis  Butcher  and  Hugh  Wirth,  -  -  24,000 
lb.    Thomas  Say,       -        -        -        -        -        -    3,778 

lb.    Arthur  Hyde, 11,766 

lb.    Edmund  Spencer, 3,028 

Cork  and  Waterford,  Richard  Beacon,  -        -        6,000 

Limerick,  Sir  William  Courtney,     -        -        -        .  10,500 

lb.    Francis  Berkly,  Esq.,  ....        7,250 

lb.    Robert  Anslow, 2,599 

lb.  Richard  and  Alex.  Fitton,  ...  3,026 
lb.  Edmund  Manwaring,  Esq.,  ....  3,747 
lb.    Waterford  and  Tipperary,  Sir  Edward  Fitton,  11,515 

lb.    Wm.  Trenchard,  Esq., 12,000 

lb.     George  Thornton,  Esq.,      -        -        .        -     1,500 

lb.    Sir  George  Bourcher,       -        -        .        .      12,880 

lb.    Henry  Billingsley,  Esq.,       -        -        .        -  11,800 

Inverary,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormond,     «        -        -        3,000 

205,699 

Thus  a  new  aristocracy  was  created  in  Munster  on 
the  ruins  of  the  old — an  order  in  its  origin  and  nature 
anti-national  and  anti- Catholic.  Other  provincial  con- 
fiscations ii^the  succeeding  reigns  completed  this  design, 
first  entertained  by  Henry,  and  first  regularly  undertaken 
by  Elizabeth.  The  manifold  evils  which  followed  then, 
and  which  still  follow,  from  such  an  iniquitous  division 


( 


% 


t . ; 


64 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


of  the  soil  of  a  populous  island,  bave  long  since  made 
the  very  name  of  Irish  landlord  synonymous  with  op- 
pression throughout  the  world. .. 

While  the  war  against  the  Desmonds  was  raging  in 
the  south,  under  pretence  of  suppressing  rebellion,  no 
one  could  help  seeing  that  in  reality  it  was  directed 
against  the  Catholic  religion.  If  any  had  doubted  the 
real  object,  events  which  quickly  followed  Elizabeth's 
victory  soon  convinced  them.  Dermid  O* Hurley,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cashel,  being  taken  by  the  victors,  was  brought 
to  Dublin  in  1582.  Here  the  Protestant  Primate  Loftus 
besieged  him  in  vain,  for  nearly  a  year,  to  deny  the 
pope's  supremacy,  and  acknowledge  the  queen's.  Find- 
ing him  of  unshaken  faith,  he  was  brought  out  for  mar- 
tyrdom, on  St.  Stephen's  Green,  adjoining  the  city: 
there  he  was  tied  to  a  tree,  his  boots  filled  with  combus- 
tibles, and  his  limbs  stripped  and  smeared  with  oil  and 
alcohol.  Alternately  they  lighted  and  quenched  the  flame 
which  enveloped  him,  prolonging  his  tortures  through 
four  successive  days.  Still  remaining  firm,  before  dawn 
of  the  fifth  day,  they  finally  consumed  his  last  remains 
of  life,  and  left  his  calcined  bones  among  the  ashes  at 
the  foot  of  his  stake.  The  relics,  gathered  in  secret  by 
some  pious  friends,  were  hidden  away  in  the  half-ruined 
Church  of  St.  Kevin,  near  4hat  outlet  of  Dublin  called 
Kevinsport.  In  Desmond's  town  of  Kilmallock  were 
taken  Patrick  O'Hely,  Bishop  of  Mayo,  Father  Cor- 
nelius, a  Franciscan,  and  some  others.  To  extort  from 
them  confessions  o(  the  new  faith,  their  thighs  were 
broken  with  hammers,  and  their  arms  crushed  by  levers. 
They  died  without  yielding,  and  the  instruments  of  their 
torture  were  buried  with  them  in  the  Franciscan  con- 
vent at  Askeaton.  The  Most  Reverend  Richard  Creagh, 
Primate  of  all  Ireland,  was  the  next  victim.  Failing  to 
convict  him  in  Ireland  of  the  imputed  crime  of  violating 
a  young  woman,  who  herself  exposed  the  calumny,  and 
suffered  for  so  doing,  they  brought  him  to  London,  where 
he  is  said  to  have  died  of  poison  on  the'  14th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1585.  Ill  the  same  year,  the  Wfur  of  extermination 
was  directed  towards  Ulster. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


Two  great  families,  descended  from  a  common  ances- 
tor, were  pillars  of  the  church  in  the  north.  O'Don- 
nell's,  the  younger,  was^tributary  to  O' Neil's,  the  elder 
branch.  Differences  and  conflicts  more  than  enough  had 
'  been  between  these  houses  in  past  times ;  but  about  this 
period,  two  chiefs  arose  of  a  more  generous  and  politic 
nature,  who,  for  twelve  years  and  upwards  acting  in  con- 
cert, saved  Ulster  and  Connaught  from  the  horrors  re- 
cently inflicted  on  Munster. 

Hugh  O'Neil,  grandson  of  Con,  now  of  middle  age, 
was,  in  his  infancy,  carried  away  by  the  English,  and 
educated  at  London.  He  was  of  "  large  soul,"  "  profound 
dissembling  heart,"  and  "  great  military  skill,"  according 
to  Camden,  the  annalist  of  his  enemies.  No  man  surriy 
had  ever  such  need  to  remember  the  Spartan  maxim  of 
eking  out  the  lion's  with  the  fox's  skin.  Reared  to  be 
used  for  his  country's  division,  he  hoped  to  be  her  liber- 
ator ;  trusted  as  a  tool,  yet,  while  trusted,  hated,  his  first 
twenty  years  of  public  life  are  full  of  devices  and  changes 
of  character,  easily  accounted  for,  but  not  to  be  jus- 
tified. From  Leicester  and  Walsingham,  Cecil  and  Ba- 
con, he  had  learned  to  justify  to  his  own  mind  simulation 
and  dissimulation,  to  wait  patiently  for  the  ripening  of 
opportunities,  and  to  trust  implicitly  no  man  but  himself. 

Hugh  O'Donnell,  surnamed  Rud,  (Rufus,)  was  twenty 
years  of  age,  when,  after  five  years'  imprisonment  in 
Dublin  Castle,  he  effected  an  escape,  and  made  his  way 
undiscovered  to  his  home.  From  his  earliest  youth,  the 
greatest  expectations  were  entertained  in  Ulster  of  this 
chief;  his  valor,  comeliness,  and  chivalry  fitting  him  for 
popular  leadership,  as  much  as  the  wisdom  and  scu;jir  e 
of  O'Neil.  The  one  supplied  what  was  defective  in  iha 
other,  and  when  their  several  clans  chose  them  as  chiefs, 
and  theV  pledged  a  life-long  fealty  to  each  other  in  the 
Ji'alls  of  Dungannon,  the  hopes  of  the  northern  Catho- 
lics rose  over  all  obstacles. 

While  as  yet  O'Neil  was  in  London  court,  and  O'Don- 
nell in  Dublin  Castle,  King  Philip's  ships  were  tossing 
in  the  white  waves  of  Biscay.  The  Armada  was  partly 
intended  for  Ireland,  and  the  spirit  that  manned  it  with 

6* 


"t ' 


ee 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


,1  i 


80  many  noble  cavaliers  was,  in  part,  inspired  by  Irish 
preachers  and  writers  at  Madrid,  Salamanca,  Coimbra, 
and  Lisbon.  Many  of  these»iexiles  were  companions 
of  the  voyage — the  young  Ge^aldine,  from  Alcala;  Don- 
nell  Kavanagh,  (called  "  Spaniagh,"  or  the  Spaniard ;) 
Florence  Conroy,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  and  many  ec- 
clesiastics, secular  and  regular,  sailed  in  the  expedition 
of  1588,  and  in  the  second  expedition  in  1589.  The 
wreck  of  this  fleet,  and  the  capture  of  some  stray 
ships  knocking  about  the  English  Channel,  are  familiar 
to  all.  English  patriotism  has  dwelt  for  three  hundred 
years  on  the  tale,  and  repeated  it  with  every  possible 
embellishment.  On  the  west  coast  of  Ireland  thirteen 
great  ships  and  three  thousand  men  were  lost,  including 
the  vice  admiral,  Alphonso  de  Leria,  a  natural  son  of 
King  Philip,  a  nephew  of  Cardinal  Granville,  and  the 
Geraldines.  The  expedition  of  the  following  year  fared 
no  better,  though  less  lives  were  lost.  Archbishop  Con- 
roy escaped  back  to  Spain,  where  he  lived  for  some  years, 
until,  under  the  viceroyalty  of  Albert  and  Isabella,  he 
removed  to  the  Netherlands,  and  founded  the  Irish  col- 
lege at  Louvain.  There  he  presided,  wrote  his  commen- 
taries on  St.  Augustine,  established  an  Irish  press, 
from  which  he  issued  devotional  and  catechetical  works 
"  For  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  the  Gael,"  and  there 
his  ashes  remain  near  the  high  altar  of  the  chapel  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Anthony  of  Padua.  He  was  an  active  pro- 
moter of  both  expeditions. 

The  wreck  of  the  Spanish  Avmadas  of  '88  and  '89 
Tetarded  the  projects  of  Hugh  O'Neil.  He,  however, 
made  the  best  use  of  certain  Spanish  officers,  who  es- 
caped to  Dungannon,  by  opei  ing  through  them  a  formal 
correspondence  with  King  Philip.  Cautious  and  artful 
as  he  was  bold,  he  had  previously  obtained  the  consent 
of  Elizabeth  to  maintain  six  companies  of  foot,  which 
he  kept  constantly  disbanding  and  recruiting  as  fast  as 
they  acquired  discipline.  He  also  gradually  imported 
military  stores,  and  extended  his  confederacy,  so  that  by 
1593  he  had  his  plans  tolerably  well  matured. 

By  design,  or  accident,  O'Donnell  began  the  war. 


PROTESTANT   RBFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


m 


Aided  by  his  saffragans,  McGuire,  O'Rorke,  and  the 
McSweeneys,  he  drove  the  English  garrisons  out  of  Stra- 
bane  and  Enniskillen.  He  then  carried  the  war  into 
Connaught,  took  Siigo,  defeated  an  English  army  among 
the  Leitrim  Mountains,  and  made  tolerably  clean  work 
of  it  with  ail  their  garrison  towns  as  far  south  as  Athlone. 
During  this  campaign,  O'Neil  acted,  to  admiration,  the 
part  of  mediator;  but  in  the  coming  spring,  he  resolved 
to  clear  his  territory  of  the  garrisons,  after  O'Donnell's 
fashion. 

From  the  towers  of  Dungannon,  the  broad  white  flag, 
with  the  blazon  of  the  red  hand,  was  spread,  amid  the 
acclamations  of  a  great  gathering,  in  the  spring  of 
1594.  A  detachment  simultaneously  advanced  on  the 
English  fort  of  Portmore,  near  Coleraine,  took  and 
razed  it  to  the  corner  stone.  Advancing  through  Cavan, 
O'Neil  laid  siege  to  Monaghon,  resolving  to  carry  the 
war  towards  Dublin.  Russell,  the  new  viceroy,  deter- 
mined to  negotiate,  and  sent  forward,  as  queen's 
commissioners.  Sir  Henry  Wallop  and  Chief  Justice 
Gardiner.  O'Neil  treated  with  them  in  a  plain  between 
both  armies,  but  a  temporary  truce  was  the  only  result 
This  truce,  made  to  be  broken,  gave  time  for  Sir 
John  Norreys  to  arrive  from  England  with  a  picked 
body  of  Flemings  and  Brabanters,  and  for  O'Donnell,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  come  up  fifom  Connaught.  At  Clon- 
tibret  the  first  regular  battle  was  fought,  Norreys  defeated, 
the  chief  of,  his  "  Methian  "  cavalry,  Seagrave,  killed  by 
O'Neil's  own  hand,  and  the  royal  standard  captured. 

The  war,  thus  commenced,  lasted  for  seven  years 
almost  without  interruption.  From  the  victory  of  Clon- 
tibret  to  the  defeat  before  Kinsale,  "the  two  Hughs" 
were  the  Achilles  and  Ulysses  of  the  Catholic  cause.  In 
1596,  they  received  Don  Alonzo  Copis,  who  brought 
them  some  arms  and  ammunition  from  Spain ;  the  same 
year  O'Neil  retook  Armagh ;  in  '97,  De  Burgh,  a  new 
deputy,  but  an  old  soldier,  marched  northward  with  a 
great  army,  and  despatched  Sir  Conyers  Clifford  to  the 
north-west ;  O'Donnell  routed  Clifford  with  immease  loss 
in  Leitrim;  another  detachment  was  cut  to  pieces  at 


\^Tm 


ft 


/ 


68 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


i«i     IT 


I 


ifi 


„„, !li 

Kill  I' 


Tyrrell's  Pass, by  Tyrrell  and  O'Connor;  while  at  Drum- 
fluich,  on  the  Blackwater,  ^^the  united  Irish  forces 
routed  the  main  army  with  heavy  loss,  the  Lords  De 
Burgh  and  Kildare,  Sir  Francis  Vaughn,  and'  other  lead- 
ing officers  being  among  the  slain.  A  fresh  storb  of 
English  standards  and  arms  were  forwarded  as  trophies 
to  Dungannon  and  Donegal. 

The  chief  Irish  victory  of  the  war  was  that  won  at 
the  "  Yellow  For3,"  on  the  little  river  Avon  more,  in 
Armagh.  It  was  fought  the  10th  of  August,  1598.  Mar- 
shal Bagenal  commanded  for  the  queen,  O'Neil  for  the 
Catholics.  "  Two  thousand  five  hundred  English  were 
slain,  including  /twenty-three  superior  officers,  besides 
lieutenants  and  ensigns.  Twelve  thousand  gold  pieces, 
thirty-four  standards,  all  the  musical  instruments  and 
cannon,  to'jgether  with  a  long  train  of  provision  wagons," 
were  taken.  Fifteen  hundred  prisoners  were  disarmed 
and  marched  to  Dublin;  the  Catholics  buried  all  the 
dead,  as  well  foes  as  friends.  They  had  only  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  killed  and  six  hundred  wounded.*  T{iis 
was  the  most  glorious  day  of  that  heroic  effort  agairist 
the  heresy  and  policy  of  Elizabeth. 

Warmed  by  these  tidings  from  the  north,  the  whole 
nation  was  stirred  with  emulation.  Owen  O' Moore, 
son  of  Rory,  the  victim  of  Bellingham,  won  back,  by 
the  strong  arm,  two  thirds  of  Leix,  as  O'Connor  did  the 

g eater  half  of  OfTally ;  Feach  McHugh  O' Byrne,  of 
lendalough,  backed  by  clan  Kavanagh,  rose  at  the 
same  time,  defeated  and  'slew  Sir  Dudley  Bagenal  and 
Heron,  constable  of  Leighlin;  and  again,  in  1599, 
routed  the  Earls  of  Essex  and  Southampton,  half  way 
between  Arklow  and  Enniscorthy,  pursued  them  forty 
miles  to  Dublin,  and  razed  the  fort  at  Crumlin,  within 
two  miles  of  the  capital. 

Even  desolated  Munster  raised  her  head  once  more. 
A  collateral  heir  of  the  Desmonds  was  made  earl  by 
O'Neil,  to  whom  he  did  homage;  aid  except  a  few 


ill   r  ^ 


*  Mitchel's  Life  of  Hugh  O'Neil,  p.  144,  where  the  several  authorities 
are  quoted. 


^m> 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


69 


strong  points,  Munster  was,  for  the  time,  restored  to  the 
right  owners.  In  Connaught  the  English  power  was 
also  much  reduced,  and  Elizabeth  spent  a  sad  Christ- 
mas in  1598,  thinking  how  she  should  make  one  last 
effort  to  regain  Ireland.  In  a  justifiable  cause,  the 
indomitable  will  of  this  woman  would  have  been  as  admi- 
rable as  that  of  Isabella  of  Castile,  in  her  wars  against 
the  Moors,  a  century  earlier.  Very  different  was  Eliza- 
beth, the  Protestant,  from  Isabella,  the  Catholic.  Isabella 
was  a  pious,  gentle,  affectionate  wife  and  mother ;  she 
loved  learning,  and  hated  error ;  but  even  the  errors  of 
paganism  she  rather  strove  to  cure  than  to  punish. 
Elizabeth,  boastful  of  her  virginity,  was  of  notoriously 
lax  life;  she  Was  intolerant  of  all  belief  in  any  other 
supremacy  than  her  own,  while  she  countenanced  most 
of  the  immoralities  and  heresies  of  the  day.  Elizabeth 
and  Isabella  loved  learning,  and  were  indefatigable  in 
enterprise;  but  in  all  things  else  Anne  Boleyn  was 
naturally  more  inferior  to  Q,ueen  Katharine  than  her 
daughter  was  to  poor  Katharine's  celebrated  mother. 

The  winter  of  1598  was  spent  by  the  English  states- 
men in  considering  the  next  Irish  campaign.  The 
queen's  favorite,  Essex,  was  to  command  in  chief,  with 
the  most  experienced  aids.  Cecil  an^  Bacon  prepared 
his  "  policie."  He  wanted  for  nothing  the  queen  could 
give.  On  the  15th  of  April,  1599,  he  disembarked 
20,000  chosen  men  at  Dublin,  where  the  previous  com- 
mander, Ormond,  met  him  with  a  force  of  10,000,  or 
15,000.  One  historian  estimates  the  entire  Catholic  forces 
at  29,352 ;  another  sets  them  down  at  20,592.  Of  these 
6000  were  with  O'Neil  in  the  north,  and  4000  with 
O'Donnell  in  the  west.  A  Spanish  ship,  with  arms  for 
2000  men,  arrived»safely  in  Donnegal,  with  news  of  the 
death  of  King  Philip,  and  assurances  of  cordial  aid 
from  the  young  king,  Philip  III. 

This  young  king  seems  to  have  meant  his  message. 
He  despatched  Don  Martin  de  la  Cerda,  and  Mathew  of 
Oviedo,  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  to  O'Neil.  They 
bore  him  an  indulgence  for  all  who  would  fight  against 
England ;  "  a  phoenix  plume,"  blessed  by  Pope  Sixtus, 


'■':^  •  Jl 


I 


70 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


i 


i|,'N'i(i!tli:(iliM 


v.,  and  22,000  golden  pieces  for  his  chest.  Taking 
advantage  of  a  six  weeks**  truce  with  Essex,  and  accom- 
panied loy  the  Spanish  ambassadors,  O' Neil  made  a 
pilgrimage  from  Dungannon,  in  Tyrone,  to  Holy  Cross, 
in  Tipperary,  in  which  they  were  joined  by  all  the  army, 
the  cavalry  'mouhted,  and  the  footmen  armed.  .  Here 
the  Southern  chiefs,  the  remains  of  the  Desmonds,  and 
Florence  McCarthy,  created  by  him  McCarthy  More, 
met  O'Neil,  and  here  it  was  arranged  that  the  promised 
Spanish  auxiliaries  should  land  in  Munster,  where  they 
were  most  needed.  From  Holy  Cross,  the  Spanish 
convoys  returned  home ;  and,  according  to  agreement,  a 
Spanish  fleet,  of  6  galleons,  11  armed  vessels,  about  30 
storeships,  manned  by  1500  sailors,  and  carrying  6000 
troops,  sailed  the  next  spring,  under  the  command  of 
Don  John  d'Aguila^  for  Munster.  After  losing  a  squad- 
ron off.  Corunna,  he  landed,  with  3400  men,  at  Kinsale, 
and  garrisoned  the  town.. 

'  Essex,  having  wasted  some  weeks  with  protocols,  sud- 
denly returned  to  court,  and  was  disgraced.  He  was 
succeeded  by  a  very  different  deputy,  Christopher  Blount, 
Lord  Mountjoy.  This  war  had  already  cost  Elizabeth 
j£3,400,000  —  an  immense  sum,  ap  money  then  rated.* 
Mountjoy  was  instructed  to  succeed  —  to  end  the  war 
by  any  means.  He  was  the  ablest  enemy  the  Catholic 
chiefs  had  yet  to  cope  with. 

The  new  viceroy  marched  to  the  borders  of  lUster,  and 
skirmished  with  O'Neil  at  the  pass  of  Moira  and  about 
Newry.  Having  then  strongly  garrisoned  Newry,  Dun- 
dalk,  and  Carlingford,  he  suddenly  retreated.  In  fact, 
this  movement  was  a  feint  to  occupy  "  the  two  Hughs," 
while  Sir  Henry  Docwra,  with  a  vast  fleet,  entered 
Lough  Foyle,  seized  and  fortified  Deirry,  thus  planting 
a  garrison  and  commanding  a  harbor  in  their  rear. 
Having  effected  this  manoeuvre,  a  quasi  toleration  was 
permitted  the  Anglo-Lish  Catholics  about  Dublin,  and 
every  effort  was  made  to  seduce  the  members  of  the 


*  Hume's  History  of  England.     The  single  campaign  of  1599  cost 
Elizabeth  £600,000  —  wurth  then  ten  times  its  present  value. 


r, 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


n 


Catholic  confederacy  one  by  one  out  of  that  league. 
A  queen's  O'Neil,  0'Donnell,»'anr'  McGuire  were  set  up. 
O'Connor,  in  Munster,  was  induced  tt>  believe,  by  a 
forged  letter,  that  the  new  Desmuind  had  betrayed' him  ; 
and  so  in  his  wrath,  he  delivered  Desfucrd  to  the  com- 
mon enemy:  Feagh  McHugh  and  Donnell  iBpaniagh 
were  feasted  in  Dublin  Castle,  »*  the  diches  being  brought 
in  by  colonels  b.i\^  captains ;"  O'More,  of  Leix,  was  killed 
in  a  skirmish,  leaving  an  infant  son,  called  Rory,  or  Roger 
O' Moore;  the  uxorious  McCarthy  More  was  seduced 
into  submission  by  his  English  wife,  "wlto  refused  to 
corpe  to  his  bed  till  he  made  peace  with  her  majestic." 

Intrigue  was  thus  at  its  work  in  Leinster  and  Mun- 
ster when  Don  John  and  his  Spaniards  reached  Kinsale. 
Mountjoy  immediately  issued  orders  for  the  queen's  troops 
to  concentrate  in  Cork.  The  design  of  this  viceroy 
was  to  reduce  the  Catholics  by 'famine  and  pestilence 
rather  than  the  sword.  A  few  entries  fronT  the  memoirs 
of  the  campaigns  of  Mountjoy,  by  himself  and  his  offi- 
cers, will  show  how  systematically  this  murderous  policy 
was  pursued.  .  ■ 

*1600.  "Captain  Flower  was  sent  into  Carbry  with 
"1200  foot  and  100  horse,  and  burned  and  preyed  as  far 
"asRoss!"— Cba;,425. 

1600.  «  On  the  28th  of  May,  the  president  entered 
"  Clanwilliam,  and  John  Burk  refused  to  submit  persoti*, 
"ally,  pretending  that  his  priests  taught  him  that  it'waa^ 
"a  mortal  sin  so  to  doe.  The  president,  disdaining  that 
"frivolous  answer, the  next  day  burned  and  destroy ^jd  his 
"houses,  corn,  and  country!  and  then,  on  the  30th  of 
"  May,  Burk  came  and  submitted." —  Cox,  426. 

1600.  "  The  president  sent  Maurice  Stack,  with  60 
"men,  to  Kerry,  where  he  surprsied  Liscaghan  Castle, 
"  burned  Adare,  and  preyed  the  country ! "  —  Cdx,  429. 

,"  The  same  day  fiftie-eight  were  executed  in  the  market 
"  place ! " —  Pacata  Hibemia,  574. 

"  The  Earle  of   Clanricard  had  many  faire  escapes, 


*  Vindicise  Hibemicse,  pp.  74,  76. 


7a 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


**  being  shot  through  his  garments,  and  no  man  did  bloody 
>^his  sword  more  than  his  lordship  did  that  day,  and 
"would  not  suffer  any  man  to  take  any  of  the  Irish 
"  prisoners,  but  bade  them  kill  the  rebels ! "  —  Idem,  421. 

"  Whome,  though  until  hir  majesties  plersure  knowne 
**  he  did  forbeare,  yet  the  residue  he  spared  riot ;  but  after 
"  their  deserts,  he  executed  in  infinit  numbers."  — fToZ/iw- 
shedj  vi.  370. 

"  The  president,  therefore,  as  well  to  debarre  these 
"  straglers  from  releefe,  as  to  prevent  all  meanes  of  suc- 
"  cours  to  Osulevan,  if  hee  should  returne  with  new  forces, 
"  caused  all  the  county  of  Kerry  and  Desmond,  Beare, 
"  Bantry,  and  Carbery  to  be  left  absolutely  wasted."  — 
Pacata  Hibernia,  680. 

"  They  passed  the  next  morning  over  the  bridge  of 
"  Adare,  and  by  the  waie,,they  burned  and  spoiled;  the 
"  cdtontrie."  —  Hollinshed,  vi.  429. 

«  On  the  1st  of  May,  Captain  Taaf  took  a  prey  of  300 
"icows,  and  many  sheep,  and  on  the  second.  Captain  John 
"  Barry  brought  in  another  prey  of  500  cows,  300  sheep, 
"  and  300  garrons ;  and  on  the  8tli,  300  men  w6re,  in  the 
"  night,  sent  to  ArtuUy  to  meet  Sir  Charles  Wilmott's 
"  forces,  and  to  conduct  them  to  the  camp ;  which  was 
"  effected,  to  the  great  grief  of  the  rebels,  and  a  prey  of 
"  4000  cows  were  taken  in  Iveragh."  —  Cox,  450. 

"  Upon  the  5th  of  May,  hee  secretly  dispatched  a 
"  partie  of  men,  which  burnt  and  spoyled  all  the  countrey, 
"  and  returned  with  foure  thousand  cowes,  besides  sheepe 
"  and  garrons."  —  Pacata  Hibernia,  538. 

"  The  lord  justice  marched  a  few  miles  in  Mac  Aulies 
"  countrie,  spoiling,  defacing,  and  burning  the  same."  — 
HoUinshed,  vi.  432. 

"  On  the  31st  of  October,  the  English  took  a  prey  of 
"  2000  sheep,  and  1000  garrons,  from  O' Sullivan  and  the 
"  Irish,  who  fought  very  smartly  for  their  cattel,  so  that 
"  many*were  slain  on  either  side."  —  Cox,  453. 

"  They  tooke  also  from  thence  certaine  cowes  and 
"  sheepe,  which  were  reserved  there  as  in  a  sure  storehouse, 
"  and  put  the  churles  to  the  sword  that  inhabited  therein." 
— Pacata  Hibemia,  659. 


•fsnVJii^ 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 

4.0  J  V  i  '^  ♦ 

"Great  were  the  services  which  these  garrisons  per- 
" formed;  for  Sir  Richard  Pierce  and  Captain  George 
«  Flower,  with  their  troopes,  left  neither  corn,  nor  home, 
"  nor  house,  unburnt,  between  Kinsale  and  Ross.  Cap- 
"  tain  Roger  Harvie,  who  had  with  him  his  brother,  Cap- 
« tain  Gawen  Harvie,  Captain  Francis  Slingsbie,  Captain 
"  William  Stafford,  and  also  the  companys  of  the  Lord 
"  Barry  and  the  treasurer,  with  the  president's  horse,  did 
"  th^  like  between  Ross  and  Bantry."  —  Idem^  645. 

"  Some  were  slain  of  the  lord  governor's  men,  though 
"  not  so  many,  amongst  whom  Captain  Zouche's  trum- 
"  peter  was  one ;  which  so  grieved  the  lord  f  neral  that 
''  he  commanded  all  the  houses,  towns,  and  villages,,  in 
"  that  country,  and  about  Lefinnen,  which  in  any  way 
"  did  belong  to  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  or  any  of  his  friends 
"  and  followers,  to  be  burned  and  spoiled ! "  —  Hollinshed, 
vi.  425. 

"  Hereupon,  Sir  Charles,  with  the  English  regiments, 
"overran  all  Beare  and  Bantry,  destroying  all  that  they 
"  could  find  meet  for  the  relief  of  men,  so  as  that  country 
"  was  wholly  wasted  I "  —  Pacata  Hibernian  659. 

"  The  next  dale  following,  being  the  twelfe  of  March, 
"  the  lord  justice  and  the  earle  divided  their  armie  into 
"  two  several  companies  by  two  ensigns  and  three  togeth- 
"er,  the  lord  justice  taking  the  one  side,  and  the  other 
"taking  the  other  side  of  Slewlougher,  and  so  they 
"searched  the  woods,  burned  the  towne,  and  killed 
"  that  dale  about  foure  hundred  men,  and  returned  the 
"  same  night  with  all  the  cattell  which  they  found  that 
"  dale !  • 

"And  the  said  lords,  being  not  satisfied  with  this 
"  dale's  service,  they  did  likewise  the  next  dale  divide 
"themselves,  spoiled  and  consumed  the  whole  countrie 
"  until  it  was  night! "  —  Hollinshed^  vi.  430. 

"  They  passed  over  the  same  into  Conilo,  where  the 
"lord  justice  and  the  earl  of  Ormand  divided  their 
"  companies,  and  as  they  marched,  they  burned  and  de- 
"  stroyed  the  country."  —  Ibid. 

"  He  divided  his  companies  into  foure  parts,  and  they 
"  entered  into  foure  severall  places  of  the  wood  at  one 
7 


J 


!  '  . 


74 


i 


' 


ATTEMPTS  „TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


**  instant ;  and  by  that  meanes  they  scowred  the  wood 
"  throughout,  in  killing'  as  manuie  as  they  tookCf  but  the 
*^  residue  lied  into  the  mountains."  —  Hollinshedj  vi.  452. 

"  There  were  some  of  the  Irish  taken  prisoners,  that 
^'  offered  great  ransomes ;  but  presently  upon  their  bring- 
^'  ihg  to  the  campe,  they  were  hanged!"*  —  PaeaJLa  Whet- 
fiia^  421. 

*<  Then  dividing  into  three  parts  marched  to  Dingle, 
"  and  as  they  went,  they  drove  the  whole  country  before 
^'  them,  whereby  they  took  a  prey  of  eight  thousa/nd  cowsj 
i^  besides  garrons,  sheep^  Sfc.^  and  slew  a  great  manypeopley 
^'  and  bad  slain  more  but  that  Sir  William  Winter  "  ;ve 
♦'  many  of  them  protections."' —  Cox^  366. 

^'  One  hundred  and  forty  of  his  gallow-glasses  had  the 
^  misfortune  to  be  intercepted  and  made  prisoners ;  and  as 
*^  intelligence  was  received  that  the  rebels  advanced  and 
*<  prepared  to  give  battle,  Skeffington,  with  a  barbarous 
^'  precaution,  ordered  these  wretches  to  be  slaughtered;  an 
^^  order  so  effectually  executed^  that  but  one  of  all  the  mm- 
**  ber  escaped  the  carnage."  —  Leland^  ii.  181. 

^*  Capteine  Macworth  recouvered  the  possession  of  the 
/^  wbol^,  and  did  put  fif  tie  to  the  sword,  of  which  nineteene 
^'  were  found  to  be  laniards ;  and  six  others  he  tooke, 
^^  whereof  one  was  a  woman,  which  were  executed  in 
f^  the  campe  !  None  were  saved  that  dale  but  onlie  the 
^^  jCapteine,  Julio,  whom  the  lorc^  justice  kept  for  certeine 
**  iconsiderations  two  or  three  daies :  but  in  fhe  end  he 
^  was  hanged,  as  the  rest  were  before  him."  —  Hollinshed, 
vh  431. 

"  Sir  Charles  Wilmot,  with  his  regiment,  was  sent 
**  againe  into  Kerry,  (which  countrey  having  therein  great 
^  store  of  come  and  cattle,  would  otherwise  haue  beene 
**  left  open  to  the  rebels'  reliefe,)  with  direction  to  remoue 
"  all  the  inhabitants,  with  their  goods  and  caitle,  over  the 
<^  mountaine  into  the  small  county  of  Limerick,  and 
*'  such  corne  as  could  not  be  presently  reaped  and  con* 
^  vaied,  (as  aforesaid,)  hee  was  commanded  to  bwme  a/nd 
"  spoyle  the  same."  —  Pacaia  Hibernia,  582. 

^*  From  this  he  tooke  his  journie  towards  Corke,  and 
if  in  his  waie  at  Drunfening  he  tooke  a  preie  of  one 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN    IftELAND. 


75 


**  thousand  five  hundred  kine  or  cowesy  which  were  all 
♦*  driven  and  sent  unto  Corke."  -^  Hollinshedj  vi.  425. 

<^  When  after  great  trauels  thep  had  marvehusUe  wanted 
^  and  ^soiled  the  countrie,  they  appointed  to  march  to 
"  Carigofoile,  and  talaie  siege  to  the  same."  •—  HoUinshed^ 
vi.430. 

,  "  They  wasted  and  forraged  the  c&untrey^  so  as  in  a 
"  small  time  it  was  not  able  to  gim  the  rebels  any  relief e  ! 
*^  having  spoiled  and  brought  into  their  garrisons  the  most 
♦'  part  of  their  corney  being  newly  reaped." — Pacata  Hiber- 
mfli  584. 

1600,  «  On  the  12th  of  August,  Mbuntjoy,  with  660 
^  foot,  and  60  horse,  and  some  voluntiers,  marcht  to 
''  Naas,  and  thence  to  Philipstown,  and  in  his  way  took 
"  a  prey  of  200  cows,  700  garrons,  and  500  sheep,  and 
"  so  burning  the  country  !  "  —  Cox^  428. 

1600.  "  Sir  Arthur  Savage,  governour  of  Connagh, 
^'  designed  to  meet  the  lord  lieutenant,  but  could  not 
^  accomplish  it,  though  he  preyed  and  spoiled  the  country 
"  as  far  as  he  came  !  "  ^—  Ibidf 

1600.  "  Mountjoy  staid  in  this  country  till  the  23d  of 
<<  August^  and  destroyed  10,000/.  worth  of  com,  and  slew 
**  more  or  less  of  the  rebels  every  day  !  One  Lenagh,  a 
*<  notorious  rebel,  was  taken  and  hanged,  and  a  prey  of 
"  1000  cows,  500  garrons,  and  many  sheep,  was  taken  by 
"  Sir  Oliver  Lambert,  in  Daniel  Spany's  countrey,  with 
"  the  slaughter  of  a  great  many  rebels  !  " — Ibid. 

1601.  **  Then  he  wa^ed  Sleugh-Art,  a  little  country  in 
"  Tir-Oen,  full  of  woods  and  bogs,  about  fifteen  miles 
«  Img  I "  —  Camden,  638. 

1601.  "  It  was  not  long  before  he  did  invade  MacdufTa 
**  country,  and  took  a  prey  of  1000  cows,  and  burned 
*'  what  he  could  not  carry  away  !  "  —  Cox,  436. 

1601.  "  The  deputy  sent  out  Sir  Henry  Danvers,  with 
"  300  foot,  to  bum  about  20  houses,  which  he  effected."  — 
Cox,  439. 

B' Aguila,  a  soldier  of  the  school  on  which  the  wealth  of 
Mexico  and  the  defeats  in  the  Netherlands  had  done 
enervating  work,  despatched  messengers  for  aid  to  O'Don- 
nell  and  O'Neil.     Both  had  now  invaders  within  their 


■'% 


76 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


borderS)  in  Derry,  in  Portmote,  in  Lifford,  in  Donegal, 
and  in  Newry,  but  they  raised  their  sev/tral  sieges,  «nd 
marched  southward  to  relieve  their  aJly.  Moantjoy  was 
already  there  with  16,000  men,  while  Sir  Robert  Levis- 
ton,  with  ten  flnglish  ships,  blockaded  the  coast  O'Don- 
nel  with  2500,  and  O'Neil  with  4000  men,  proposed  to 
combine  at  Holy  Cross,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  southern 
Celts,  strike  for-Spain  and  the  Catholic  faith.  Early  in  De- 
cember, they  had  formed  a  junction,  and  with  about  6500 
men,  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy.  The  Spanish  flag 
still  flew  on  the  ramparts,  and  the  English  flag  in  the 
the  plain.  O' Neil's  plan  was  to  besiege  the  besiegers  in 
their  camp,  to  cut  them  off  from  the  country,  as  the 
town  did  from  the  scp..  and  thus  compel  their  surrender. 
A  skirmish,  however,  on  the  night  of  the  iJ4th,  accident- 
ally drew  on  a  general  engagement,  and  Christmas 
day  beheld  the  triumph  of  the  heretical  forces.  D' Aguila 
remained  within  his  walls,  not  even  attempting  a  sally, 
and  O^NeiPs  6000,  outnumbered,  were  forced  to  retreat 
On  the  last  day  of  the  month,  Don  John,  according  to 
treaty,  evacutted  Kinsale,  bringing  away  to  Spain  his 
colors,  arms,  and  money  —  every  thing  indeed  but  his 
reputation. 

The  end  is  a  tragedy :  O'Donnell  went  to  Spain  to 
make  a  new  alliance  and  refute  the  inventions  of  d' Aguila, 
but  died  of  fever  in  the  royal  palace  of  Simancas,  before 
his  mission  had  come  to  any  head.  He  was  at  the  time 
but  thirty  years  old.  O' Sullivan  and  other  brave  Mun- 
ster  chiefs  followed  him,  where  the  young  O' Sullivan 
Beare  commanded  a  ship  of  war  for  Philip  III.,  and 
wrote  his  Catholic  History  of  Ireland. 

The  best  of  the  Leinster  chiefs,  Feagh  McHugh,  died 
at  an  extreme  age,  after  forty  years  of  noble  exploits. 
Donnell  Spaniagh  took  a  pension  from  Mountjoy,  and 
eat  his  bitter  bread  beside  Dublin  Castle. 

The  heir  of  O' Moore,  an  infant  in  Spain,  was  nursing 
against  the  day  of  wrath,  1641. 

O'Neil  was  surrounded  by  foes  on  every  side,  who 
simultaneously  advanced  upon  Dungannon.  His  biog- 
rapher tells  the  sad  story  of  their  progress :  — 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN   IREI^AND. 


77 


<^  Chichester  marched  from  Carrickfergus,  and  crossed 
<(  the  Bann  at  Toome :  Docwra  and  his  Derry  troops 
<<  advanced  by  way  of  Dungiven ;  and  Mountjoy  himself 
"  by  Dungannon  and  Killetrough  ;  * — and  wide  over  the 
"  pleasant  fields  of  Ulster  trooped  their  bands  of  ill- 
^'  omened,  red-coated  reapers,  assiduous  in  cutting  that 
<*  saddest  of  all  recorded  harvests.  Morning  after  mom- 
<'  ing  the  sun  rose  bright,  and  the  birds  made  music,  as 
^  they  are  wont  to  do  of  a  summer's  morning  *  on  the 
"  fair  hills  of  holy  Ireland  ;'<— and  forth  went  the  libor- 
''  ers  by  troops,  with  their  fatal  sickles  in  their  hands ; 
''  and  some  cut  down  the  grain,  and  trampled  it  into  the 
*'  earth,  and  left  it  rotting  there ;  and  some  drove  away 
<'  the  cattle,  and  either  slaughtered  them  in  herds,  leaving 
<'  their  carcasses  to  breed  pestilence  and  death,  or  drove 
''  them  for  a  spoil  to  the  southward ;  and  some  burned 
^<  the  houses  and  the  corn-stacks,  and  blotted  the  sun  with 
^  the  smoke  of  their  conflagrations ;  and  the  summer 
*'  song  of  birds  was  drowned  by  the  wail  of  helpless 
^  children  and  the  shrieks  of  the  pitiful  women.  All  this 
"  summer  and  autumn  the  havoc  was  continued,  until 
"  from  O'Cahan's  countary,  as  Mountjoy 's  secretary  de- 
"  scribes  it,  '  we  have  none  left  to  give  us  opposition, 
"  nor  of  late  have  seen  any  but  dead  carcasses,  merely 
"  starved  for  want  of  meat.* 

"  The  deputy  had  taken  Magherlowny  and  Ennis- 
"  laughlin,  two  principal  forts  and  arsenals  of  0*NeiPs, 
"  and  now,  about  the  end  of  August,  he  penetrated  to 
"  Tullough-oge,  the  seat  of  the  clan  O'Hagan,  and  broke 
"  in  pieces  that  ancient  stone  chair  in  which  the  princes 
"  of  Ulster  had  been  inaugurated  for  many  a  century .f 
"  Castle-Roe  also  soon  became  untenable ;  and  O'Neil, 
"  retiring  slowly,  like  a  hunted  beast  keeping  the  dogs  at 
"  bay,  retreated  to  the  deep  woods  and  thickets  of  Glan* 
"  con-keane,(  the  name  of  that  valley  through  which  the 


«. 


f%K 


*  Moryson. 

t  Stuart,  the  historian  of  Armagh,  says  that  some  fragments  of  the 
O'Neil's  stone  chair  used  to  be  shown  upon  the  glebe  of  the  parish  of 
Desert-creight,  county  Tyrone. 

t  Gleantt'cin-cein,  the  "  far  head  of  the  glen." 

»  7* 


11 


!  ;J 


:«'■.•■■■:■    ^: 


■iii^ 


78f 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH   THE 


<*  Moyola  winds  its  way  to  Lougii  Neagh,  then  the  mo6i 
"  inaceessible  fastness  in  all  Tyr-owen.  Here,  with  six 
*^  hundred  infantry  and  about  sixty  horse,  he  made  his 
*^  last  stand,  and  actually  defied  the  armies  of  England 
*^  that  whole  winter.  His  western  allies  were  still  up  in 
*<  Connanght,  and  Bryan  McArt  O'Neil  in  Claneboy 
<i  .^^  and  a  favorable  reverse  of  fortune  was  still  possi- 
**  ble ;  or  the  Spaniards  might  still  remember  him,  and 
*<  in  any  event  he  could  ill  brook  the  thought  of  surren- 
"  dering. 

**  But  the  winter's  campaign  in  Connaught  was  fatal 
*^  to  the  cause  in  that  quarter.  In  the  noith,  O'Cahan 
"  gave  in  his  submission  to  Docwra,  and  Chichester  and 
**  I^nvers  reduced  Bryan  McArt ;  so  that  early  in  the 
*^  spring  of  1603,  O'Neil  found  that  no  chief  in  all  Ireland 
"kept  the  field  on  his  part,  except  O'Ruarc,  McGwire,' 
"  and  the  faithful  Tyrrell.  He  had  heard  too  of  Rod- 
"  erick  O'Dolinell's  submission,  and  Ked  Hugh's  death, 
"  and  th&t  ho  more  forces  were  to  be  hoped  from  Spain. 
"  Famine  also  and  pestilence,  caused  by  the  ravage  of 
"  the  preceding  summer,  had  made  cruel  havoc  among 
*<  his  people.  A  thousand  corpses  lay  unburied  between 
**  Toome  and  Tullogh-oge,  three  thousand  had  died  of 
"  mere  starvation  in  dll  Tyr-owen,  and  *  no  spectacle,' 
"  says-Moryson,  *was  more  frequent  in  the  ditches  of 
"  towns,  and  especially  of  wasted  countries,  than  to  see 
"  multitudes  of  the  poor  people  dead,  with  their  mouths  all 
"  Colored  ^een  by  eating  nettles,  docks,  and  all  things 
"  they  cotnd  rend  up  above  ground.'  It  was  this  winter 
"that  Chichester  and  Sir  Richard  Moryson,  returning 
"  from  their  expedition  against  Bryan  McArt,  '  saw  a 
"  horrible  spectacle  —  three  children,  the  eldest  not  above 
"  t6|i  years  old,  all  eating  and  gnawing  with  their  teeth 
"  the  entrails  of  their  dead  mother,  on  whose  flesh  they 
"  had  fed  for  twenty  days  past'  Can  the  human  imagi* 
"  nation  conceive  such  a  ghastly  sight  as  this  ?  —  Or 
"picture  a  winter's  morning,  in  a  field  near  Newry, 
"  and  some  old  women  making  a  fire  there,  *  and  divers 
"  little  children,  driving  out  the  cattle  in  the  cold  morn- 
"  ings,  and  coming  thither  to  warm  them,  are  by  them 


PROTB8TANT    RBPORMATION    iff   IRELAND. 


('  (inrprised,  and  killed,  and  eaten.'  *  Captain  Treror 
<< '  and  many  honest  gentlemen  lying  in  the  Newry/  wit- 
"  nessed  this  horror — a  vision  more  grim  and  ghastly 
<t  than  any  weird  sisters  that  ever  brewed  hell-broth 
('  updh  a  blasted  heath. 

«  And  at  last  the  haughty  chieftain  learned  the  bitter 
<<  lesson  of  adversity ;  the  very  materials  of  resistance 
«  had  vanished  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  he 
"  humbled  his  proud  heart,  and  sent  proposals  of  ac- 
«  commodation  to  Mountjoy.  The  deputy  received  his 
"  instructions  from  London,  and  sent  Sir  William  Go- 
^'  dolphin  and  Sir  Garret  Moore  as  commissioners  to 
"  arrange  with  him  the  terms  of  peace.  The  negotia- 
"  tion  was  hurried,  on  the  deputy's  part,  by  private  infor- 
"  mation  which  he  had  received  of  the  queen's  death ; 
"  and  fearing  that  O'Neil's  views  might  be  altered  by 
<<  that  circumstance,  he  immediately  desired  the  com- 
'<  missioners  to  close  the  agreement,  and  invite  O'Neil, 
"  under  safe  conduct,  to  Drogheda,  to  have  it  ratified 
"  without  delay. 

<'  On  the  30th  day  of  March  (alas  the  day!)  Hugh 
"  O'Neil,  now  sixty  years  of  age,  —  worn  with  care,  and 
''  toil,  and  battle,  and  in  bitter  gri^f  for  the  miseries  of 
"  his  faithful  clansmen,  —  met  the  lord  deputy  in  peaceful 
"  guise  at  Mellifont,  and,  on  his  bended  knees  before 
"  him,  tendered  his  submission ;  and  the  favorable  con- 
'<  ditions  that  were  granted  him,  even  in  this,  his  fallen 
"  estate,  show  what  anxiety  the  counsellors  of  Elizabeth 
"  must  have  felt  to  disarm  the  still  formidable  chief.  First 
"  he  was  to  have  full  *  pardon '  for  the  past ;  next  to  be  re- 
"  stored  in  blood,  notwithstanding  his  attainder  and 
"  '  outlawry,'  and  to  be  reinstated  in  his  dignity  of  Earl  of 
"  Tyr-owen ;  then  he  and  his  people  were  to  enjoy  full 
"  and  free  exercise  of  their  religion  ;  and  new  '  letters 
"  patent '  Were  to  issue,  regranting  to  him  and  other 
"  northern  chiefs  the  whole  lands  occupied  by  their 
"  respective  clans,  save  the  country  held  by  Henry  Oge 
"  O'Neil  and  Turlough's  territory  of  the  Fews.     Out  of 


•' 


!  I  I 


I 


*  Moryson  in  Mitchel's  life  of  Hugh  O'Neil. 


t     ■  :  5 


I^^^^K 


s 


■W 


80 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


"  the  land  was  also  reserved  a  tract  of  six  hundred  acres 
"  upon  the  Black  water ;  half  to  be  assigned  to  Mount- 
"  joy  Fort,  and  half  to  Charlemont. 

<*  On  O' Neil's  part  the  conditions  were,  that  he  should 
"  once  for  all  renounce  the  title  of  *  The  O'Neii,'  and 
*<  the  jurisdiction  and  state  of  an  Irish  chieftain ;  that 
*^  he  should  now,  at  length,  sink  into  an  earl,  wear  his 
"  coronet  and  golden  chain  like  a  peaceable  nobleman, 
"  and  suffer  his  country  to  become  *  shireground,'  and 
"  admit  the  functionaries  of  English  government.  He 
"  was  also  to  write  to  Spain  for  his  son  Henry,*  who 
"  was  residing  in  the  court  of  King  Philip,  and  deliver 
'<  him  as  a  hostage  to  the  King  of  England. 

"  And  so  the  torch  and  the  sword  had  rest  in  Ulster 
"  for  a  time ;  and  the  remnant  of  its  inhabitants,  to  use 
"  this  language  of  Sir  John  Da  vies,  '  being  brayed  as  it 
"  were  in  a  mortar  with  the  sword,  famine,  and  pesti- 
"  lence  together,  submitted  themselves  to  the  British 
"  government,  received  the  laws  and  magistrates,  and 
"  gladly  embraced  the  king's  pardon.'  That  long,  bloody 
"  war  had  cost  England  many  millions  of  treasure,!  and 
"  the  blood  of  tens  of  thousands  of  her  veteran  soldiers ; 
"  and  from  the  face  of  Ireland  it  swept  nearly  one  half 
"  of  the  entire  population." 

Four  years  after,  James  being  king,  Cecil  employed 
Lord  Howth  to  hatch  a  plot  against  O'Neil,  and  Rod- 
erick O'Donnell.  They  were  summoned  to  Dublin,  but, 
forwarned  of  their  fate,  fled  to  the  continent.  In  1616, 
Hugh  O'Neil  received  at  Rome  the  holy  viaticum,  from 
Father  Luke  Wadding,  to  whom  he  intrusted  his  sword, 
in  keeping  for  the  next  chief  of  the  Irish  nation.  He  is 
buried  in  the  church  of  "  San  Pietro  in  Montorio." 

♦  ••  This  fienry  appears  to  have  been  the  only  son  of  O'Neil  and  his 
first  wife  ;  and  he  had  been  living  for  some  years  in  the  court  of  King 
Philip.  O'Neil  had  four  wives  in  succession  —  first  a  daughter  of  one 
of  the  O'Tooles,  then  Hugh  O'Donnell's  sister,  then  Sir  Henry  Bagnal's 
sister,  and  last  a  lady  of  the  McGennis  family,  of  Down. "  —  Mitchel. 

t  *"  In  the  year  1599  the  queen  spent  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  in 
six  months  on  the  service  of  Ireland.  Sir  Robert  Cecil  afiirmed  that  in 
ten  years  Ireland  cost  hor  three  millions  four  hundred  thousand  pounds.' 
—  Hume.    These  were  enormous  sums  at  that  period." 

'■  •  •    ;     '  -  .  \   .' 


^  ^'■ 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


81 


Roderick  O'Donnell  died  in  Spain,  where  his  posterity 
rose  to  many  honors,  and  from  whence  the  return  of  a 
«  Baldearg,"  who  should  liberate  Ireland,  was  confidently 
expected  for  a  hundred  years  after. 

Thus  passed  away  the  first  generation  who  resisted 
the  introduction  of  Protestantism  into  Ireland.  Judged 
by  their  enemies  or  their  acts,  they  were  no  mean  men. 
They  were  not  deficient  in  policy,  and  they  surpassed  in 
valor.  Rome  recognized  their  championship,  and  Spain 
their  reputation.  Grey,  De  Burgh,  Raleigh,  Carew, 
Mountjoy,  Cecil,  Bacon,  and  Elizabeth  were  no  ordinary 
adversaries.  The  resources  of  the  enemy  were  far  supe- 
rior to  those  of  the  Catholics,  and  in  the  sovereignty  of 
Elizabeth,  the  former  had  the  incomparable  advantage 
of  a  higher  unity  of  action. 

For  a  generation,  no  other  Catholic  armament  was 
attempted.  The  reasons  for  this  long  and  inglorious 
submission  may  be  gleaned  from  the  despatch  which 
Mountjoy  addressed  to  the  privy  council  at  the  end  of 
the  war.     He  vsnrites  — 

"  And  first,  to  present  unto  your  lordships  the  out- 
"  ward  face  of  the  four  provinces,  and  after,  to  guesse 
"  (as  neere  as  I  can)  at  their  dispositions.  Mounster,  by 
"  the  good  government  and  industry  of  the  lord  pres- 
"  ident,  is  cleare  of  any  force  in  rebellion,  except  some 
^'  few,  not  able  to  make  any  forcible  head ;  in  Leinster 
"  there  is  not  one  declared  rebell ;  in  Con  naught  there  is 
"  none  but  in  0'Ilorke*s  country ;  in  Ulster  none  but 
Tyrone  and  Bryan  McArt,  who  was  never  lord  of 
any  country,  and  now  doth,  with  a  body  of  loose  men, 
and  some  creaghts,  continue  in  Glancomkynes,  or  neere 
"  the  borders  thereof.  Cohonocht  McGwyre,  some- 
times Lord  of  Fermanagh,  is  banished  out  of  the  coun- 
try, who  lives  with  O'Rorke ;  and  at  this  tiine,  Conor 
Roe  McGwyre  is  possessed  of  it  by  the  queene,  and 
holds  it  for  her.  Ibelieve  that  generally  the  lords  of 
the  countries  that  are  reclaimed  desir6  a  peace,  though 
they  will  be  wavering  till  their  lands  and  estates  are 
*'  assured  linto  them  from  her  majestic ;  and  as  long  as 
^  they  see  a  party  in  rebellion  to  subsist,  that  is  of  a 


82 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


%•;  '  '} 


Ji!;ii     ' 


"  power  to  ruine  them,  if  they  continue  subjects  or  other- 
"  wise,  shall  be  doubtful  of  our  defence.  All  that  are 
"  out  doe  seeke  for  mercy,  excepting  O'Rorke,  and 
"  O' Sullivan,  who  is  now  with  O'Rorke;  and' these  are 
"  obstinate  only  out  of  their  diffidence  to  be  safe  in  any 
"  forgivenesse.  The  loose  men,  and  such  as  are  only 
"  captaines  of  bonnoghts,  as  Tirrell  and  Bryan  McArt, 
"  will  nourish  the  warre  as  long  as  they  see  any  possibilitie 
'^  to  subsist ;  and  like  ill  humours,  have  recourse  to  any 
<<  part  that  is  unsound.  The  nobilitie,  towns,  and  English- 
"  Irish  are,  for  the  most  part,  as  weary  of  ;th'e  warre  as 
"  any,  but  unwilling  to  have  it  ended,  generally  for  fear 
"  that  upon  a  peace  will  ensue  a  severe  reformation  of 
"  religion ;  and,  in  particular,  many  bordering  gentlemen 
"  that  were  made  poore  by  their  own  faults,  or  by  rebels' 
"  incursions,  continue  their  spleene  to  them,  now  tl^ey 
"  are  become  subjects ;  and  having  used  to  help  them- 
"  selves  by  stealths,  did  never  more, use  them,  nor  better 
"  prevailed  in  them  than  now,  that  these  submittees 
"  have  laid  aside  their  owne  defence,  and  betaken  them- 
"  selves  to  the  protection  and  justice  of  the  state ;  and 
"  many  of  them  have  tasted  so  much  sweete  in  entertain- 
"  ments  that  they  rather  desire  a  warre  to  continue  there 
"  than  a  quiet  harvest  that  might  arise  out  of  their  own 
"  honest  labour ;  so  that  I  doe  find  none  more  pernicious 
"  instruments  of  a  new  warre  than  some  of  these.  In  the 
"  meahe  time,  Tyrone,  while  he  shall  live,  will  blow 
"  every  sparke  of  discontent,  or  new  hopes  that  shall  he 
*<  hid  in  a  corner  of  the  kingdome,  and  before  he  shall  be 
"  utterly  extinguished  make  many  blazes,  and  sometimes 
"  set  on  fire  or  consume  the  next  subjects  unto  him. 
"  I  am  persuaded  that  his  combination  is  already  broken, 
"and  it  is  apparent  that  his  meanes  to  subsist  in  any 
"  power  is  overthrowne ;  but  how  long  hee  may  live  as  a 
"  wood-kerne,  and  what  new  accidents  may  fall  out  while 
"  he  doth  live,  I  know  not.  If  it  be  imputed  to  my 
"  fault  that,  notwithstanding  her  majestie's  great  forces, 
"  he  doth  6till  live,  I  beseech  your  lordships  to  remember 
"  how  securely  the  bandittoes  of  Italy  doe  live,  between 
"  the  power  of  the  King  of  Spaine  and  the  pope,  -  How 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


M 


"  many  men  of  all  countreyes  of  severall  times  have  in 

"  such  sort  preserved  themselves  long  from  the  great 

"  power  of  princes,  but  especially  in  this  countrey,  where  ' 

"  there  are  so  many  difficulties  to  carry  an  armie,  in 

"  most  places  so  many  unaccessible  strengths  for  them 

"  to  flye  unto ;  and  then  to  bee  pleased  to  consider  the 

"  great  worke  that  first  I  had  to  breake  this  maine  rebel- 

"  lion,  to  defend  the  kingdom  from  a  dangerous  invasion 

"  of  a  mightie  forraine  prince,  with  so  strong  a  partie  in 

"  the  countrey,  and  now  the  difficultie  to  root  out  scat- 

"  tared  troopes  that  had  so  many  unaccessible  dennes  to 

"  lurke  in,  which   as   they  are  by   nature   of  extreme 

"  strength  and  perill  to  bee  attempted,  so  it  is  impossible 

"  for  any  people,  naturally  and  by  art,  to  make  greater 

"  use  of  them.      And  though  with  infinite  dangers  wee 

"  do  beat  them  out  of  one,  yet  is  there  no  possibilitie 

"  for  us  to  follow  them  with  such  agilitie  as  they  will  flye 

"  to  another ;  and  it  is  most  sure  that  never  traytor  knew 

"  better  how  to  keepe  his  owne  head  than  this ;  nor  any 

"  subjects  have  a  more  dreadfuU  awe  to  lay  violent  hands 

"  on  their  sacred  prince  than  these  people  have  to  touch 

"  the  person  of  their  O'Neales;  and  hee  that  hath  as  pesti- 

"  lent  a  judgment  as  ever  any  had  to  nourish  and  to 

"  spreade  his  owne  infection,  hath  the  ancient  swelling 

"  and  desire  of  libertie  in  a  conquered  nation  to  worke 

"  upon ;  their  fear  to  bee  rooted  out,  or  to  have  thf*.\r  old 

"  faults  punished  upon  all  particular  discontent.:',   and 

"  generally  over  all  the  kingdom,  the  feare  of  n  per- 

"  secution  for  religion,  the  debasing  of  the  coyne,  (which 

"  is  grievous  unto  all  sortes,)   and-  a  dearth  and  fam- 

"  ine,  which   is  already  begun,   and   must    lisjcessarily 

"  grow  shortly  to  extremity ;  the  least  of  which,  alone, 

"  have   been   many   times   sufficient  motives    to  drive 

"  the  best  and  most  quiet  estates  into  suddaine  con- 

"  fusion.      These   will  keepe   all  spirits  from   settling, 

"  breed  new  combinations,  and,  I  feare,  even  stir  the 

"  townes  themselves  to  solicit  foraine  aide,  with  promise 

"  to  cast  themselves  into  their  protection  ;  and  although 

"  it  bee  true  that  if  it  had  pleased  her  majestic  to  have 

"  longer  continued   her   army  in  greater   strength,    I 


'  I 


m'l 


•-f 


m 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


'i|.  :■ 


"  should  the  better  have  provided  for  what  these  clondes 
"  doe  threaten,  and  sooner  and^n[lore  easily  either  have 
"  made  this  countrey  a  rased  table,  wherein  sbee  might 
"  have  written  her  owne  lawes,  or  have  tyed  the  ill-disposed 
<*  and  rebellious  hands  till  I  had  surely  planted  such  a 
"  government  as  would  have  overgrowne  and  killed  any 
"  weeds  that  should  have  risen  under  it ;  yet  since  the 
"  necessitie  of  the  state  doeth  so  urge  a  diminution  of 
"  this  great  expense,  I  will  not  despayre  to  goe  on  with 
"  this  worke,  through  all  these  difficulties,  if  wee  bee  not 
"  interrupted  by  forraine  forces,  although,  perchance, 
"  wee  may  be  encountered  with  some  new  irruptions, 
"  and  (by  often  adventuring)  with  some  disasters ;  and  it 
"  may  bee  your  lordships  shall  sometimes  heare  of 
,f*  some  spoyles  done  upon  the  subjects,  from  the  which 
«  it  is  impossible  to  preserve  them  in  all  places,  with  far 
"  greater  forces  than  ever  yet  were  kept  in  this  kingdome ; 
^'  and  although  it  hath  been  seldom  heard  that  an  armie 
"  hath  been  carried  on  with  so  continuall  action,  and  en- 
"  during  without  any  intermission  of  winter  breathings, 
"  and  that  the  difficulties  at  this  time  to  keepe  any 
"  forces  in  the  place  where  wee  must  make  the  warre 
"  (but  especially  our  horse)  are  almost  beyond  any  hope 
"  to  prevent,  yet  with  the  favour  of  God  and  her  majes- 
"  ty's  fortune  I  doe  determine  myselfe  to  draw  into  the 
"  field  as  soon  as  I  have  received  her  majesty's  com- 
"  mandments  by  the  commissioners,  who  it  hath  pleased 
"  her  to  send  over;  and  in  the  mean  time  I  hope  by 
"  mine  owne  presence  or  directions  to  set  every  partie 
"  on  worke  that  doth  adjoyne,  or  may  bee  drawn  against 
*■  any  force  that  doth  now  remaine  in  rebellion.  In  wnich 
"  journey  the  successe  must  bee  in  the  hands  of  God : 
"  but  I  will  confidently  promise  to  omit  nothing  that  is 
"  possible  by  us  to  bee  done,  to  give  the  last  blow  unto 
"  the  rebellion." 


1111' 


'«S 


•;« 


^^i 


(     . 


PROTESTANT   RBFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


^^ 


CHAPTER  V. 


8TUABTS  SUCCEED  TO  THE  THRONE— ENDOWMENT  OF  TRlNrrr 
COLLEGE.— USHER  AND  O'DANIEL.— CONFISCATION  OF  ULSTER. 
-"RECUSANT"  PARTY.— CHARLES  I.— A  NEW  PERSECUTION.— 
STRAFFORD'S  VICEROY  ALTY -CONFISCATION  OF  CONN  AUGHT.— 
THE  SCHOOL  OF  WARDS-^THB  SOLEMN  LEAGUE  wAND  COVENANT 

The  reigns  of  James  and  Charles  I.  were  spent  in 
dividing  the  spoils  acquired  by  the  late  wars  and  confis- 
cations. 

Of  the  spoils  gathered  on  the  field  of  Kinsale,  £1800 
were  set  apart  for  Trinity  College  library.  This  institu- 
tion^ founded  on  the  confiscated  priory  of  All-Hallows, 
ceded  for  that  purpose  by  the  corporation  of  the  city, 
opened  in  1598 ;  it  first  swallowed  Cong  Abbey,  in 
Mayo,  and  Abbey  O'Dorney,  in  the  Desmond  country. 
Other  grants  it  had  which  were  come  at  in  the  progress 
of  the  conquest.  Mountjoy,  who  affected  the  literary 
character,  and  wrote  commentaries  after  the  manner  of 
Caesar,  suggested  the  Kinsale  contribution.  His  second 
in  command,  Carew,  afterwards  Earl  of  Totness,  another 
author  and  afctor  of  the  same  school,  eagerly  seconded 
the  suggestion. 

We  cannot  wonder  to  find  a  university  so  founded 
productive  mainly  of  bigotry,  and  nurturing  nationality 
only  through  ignorance  of  its  nature.  James  Usher, 
nephew  of  the  queen's  Bishop  of  Armagh,  was  one  of 
its  first  scholars,  and  in  his  department,  its  greatest  name. 
He  became  the  intellectual  leader  of  Irish  Protestantism  ; 
in  1615,  drew  its  forty-two  articles,  which  were  super- 
seded by  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  in  1634.  In  his  early  career,  he  was  distin- 
guished as  the  author  of  the  theory  that  the  early  Irish 
church  was  not  in  communion  with  Rome.  Some  bold 
sentences  in  St.  Columba's  epistle  to  Pope  Boniface, 
the  different  days  celebrated  as  Easter,  and  one  or  two 
other  points,  gave  this  theory  a  color  of  truth,  which  had 


I 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


pr 


i 


no  substance.  Notwithstanding;  it  was  a  useful  fallacy, 
and  perhaps  the  Irish  establishment  would  long  since 
have  fallen,  but  for  its  supposed  revival  of  earlier  dogmas 
and  discipline. 

Beside  lUsher,  the  prelate  who  strove  most  to  natural- 
ize Protestanism  in  Ireland  was  William  Daniel,  or 
O'Daniel,  appointed  Archbishop  of  Tuam  in  1609.  He 
had  been  one  of  the  first  fellows  of  Trinity  College,  and 
was  celebrated  for  his  attainments  as  a  linguist.  He 
translated  the  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  the 
Greek  Testament  into  Irish.*  "  He  was  also  very  know- 
ing ill  the  Hebrew."  He  was  not  -naturally  a  bigot, 
though  "  early  prejudice  "  seems  to  have  made  him.  some- 
tir .  >  a  persecutor  of  the  ancient  clergy.  In  1628,  he 
died  it  Tuam,  and  was  buried  in  the  cathedral. 

Si  -  James  Ware,  another  early  scholar  of  Trinity,  was 
of  the  school  of  Usher  and  O'Daniel.  His  favorite  study 
Wfi^  T  Ish  history;  and  although  he  favors  the  Protes- 
taiiu'  theory  of  the  church  of  St.  Patrick,  he  never 
descends  to  the  virulence  of  its  modern  defenders. 
When  we  name  these  three  men,  we  name  all  the  natives 
of  Ireland,  who,  in  the  first  century  of  Protestantism, 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  controversial  service  of 
the  "  reformation." 

The  death  of  Elizabeth  had  inspired  the  Catholics 
with  sanguine  hopes.  In  the  southern  towns,  l^e  laity 
rose,  expelled  the  parsons,  and  restored  the  priesthood. 
At  Cork,  an  ecclesiastic,  lately  from  Rome,  was  publicly 
feted  as  the  pope's  legate.  Religious  processions  filled 
the  streets,  and  friars  resumed  the  habit  of  their  order. 
At  Waterford,  Father  Peter  White,  an  eminent  Jesuit, 
preached,  with  exultation  thrt  Jezabel  was  dead. 

The  Catholics  had  e\K^sy  assurance  of  sympathy  from 
the  agents  and  partisa,?)^  of  the  ne,/  dynasty.  The 
Stuarts  were  np  strangers   in  Ireland.     Th^  blood  of 

*  In  1691,  Queen  Elizabeth  provided  Irish  type  for  the  university, 
**  in  the  hppe  that  Ood  in  his  mercy  would  raise  up  some  to  translate 
the  New  Testament  into  Uieir  mother  tongue."  Copies  of  Tyndal's 
Bible  were  placed  in  **  the  midst  of  the  choir  "  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathe- 
dral and  Christ  Church.  u 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


Brian  and  of  McMurrogh  flowed  in  their  veins,  and  anti- 
quaries loved  to  trace  their  remoter  descent  from  Fleance, 
who  fled  from  Macbeth,  the  usurper,  into  Ireland.  James 
had  himself  boasted  this  pedigree,  and  declared  his 
ambition  to  become  the  pacificator  of  Ireland.  By  the 
act  of  oblivion,  in  his  first  year,  he  promised  protection 
to  all ;  but  the  next  year  by  "  the  commission  of  grace," 
he  substituted  the  English  for  the  Celtic  law;  vassalage 
for  tenant  right ;  primogeniture  for  tanistry ;  rents  and 
taxes  for  "  coigne  and  livery  j "  tithes  for  termon  lands ; 
capital  punishment  for  the  eric  and  mutilation;  patented 
earls  for  elective  chiefs ;  itinerant  courts  for  local  Bre- 
haives ;  and  the  policy  of  England  for  the  traditions  of 
Ireland. 

Worn  down  by  a  long  unequal  war,  and  abandoned 
by  Spain,  the  Irish  in  Ireland  submitted,  while  those 
abroad  kept  up  the  cause,  and  even  procured  the  consent 
of  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  that  his  nephew  s' ould  assume 
the  title  of  "  protector  of  Ireland,"  which  La  did  accord- 
ingly. 

James,  alarmed  by  the  gunpowder  plot  and  the  publi- 
cations of  the  Irish  exiles  in  Spain  and  Rome,  and  swayed, 
moreover,  by  Cecil,  his  minister,  in  his  third  year,  openly 
declared  against  toleration.  His  proclamation  ran  as 
follows :  — 

"  Whereas  we  have  been  informed  that  our  subjects 
"  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  since  the  death  of  our  &e- 
"  bved  sister,  have  been  deceived  by  a  false  rumor,  to 
"  wit,  that  we  would  allow  them  liberty  of  conscience, 
"  contrary  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  that  kingdom,  and 
"  the  religion  which  we  profess.  From  this  some  have 
"  deemed  us  less  zealous  than  we  ought  to  be  in  the 
"  administration  of  the  Irish  church,  as  well  as  in  that 
"  of  the  other  churches  over  which  it  is  our  duty  to 
"  watch ;  and  v.ery  many  of  our  Irish  subjects  seem 
"  determined  in  persevering  in  their  obstinate  contu- 
"  macy.  Jesliits,  seminarists,  priests,  and  bishops,  who 
"  have  received  ordination  at  the  hands  of  foreigners, 
"  thus  emboldened,  have  lain  concealed  in  various  parts 
"  of  that  kingdom,  and  now  emerging  from  their  hiding- 


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ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


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places,  exercise  their  functions  and  rights,  despising  us 
**  and  our  religion. 

**  Wherefore  it  hath  seemed  good  to  ns  to  notify  to 
"  our  beloved  subjects  of  Ireland,  that  we  shall  never 
*<  tolerate  such  a  state  of  things ;  and  notwithstanding 
**  the  rumors  so  industriously  circulated,  we  are  firmly 
*<  resolved  never  to  allow  any  religion  save  that  which  is 
**  consonant  to  the  word  of  God,  established  by  our  laws. 
"  By  these  presents,  therefore,  let  all  men  know  that  we 
"  strictly  order  and  command  all  and  every  of  our  sub- 
"  jects  to  frequent  the  parochial  (^lurches,  to  assist  at 
*^  the  divine  offices,  and  attend  to  the  exposition  of  the 
"  word  of  God,  on  Sundays  and  festival  days,  according 
"  to  the  rule  and  spirit  of  the  laws.  They  who  will  act 
"  contrariwise  will  incur  the  penalties  provided  by  the 
**  statutes  which  we  now  order  to  be  rigorously  enforced. 

"  And  as  it  has  been  notified  to  us  that  Jesuits,  semi- 
**  nary  priests,  and  many  other  priests,  wander  about  the 
^  kingdom  of  Ireland,  seducing  our  subjects  to  the  ob- 
"  servance  of  their  superstitious  ceremonies,  thus  bring* 
"  ing  our  laws  into  contempt :  We  now  order  and  com- 
*^  mand  that  all  such  Jesuits,  priests,  seminarists,  &c., 
"  &c.,  who  have  been  ordained  in  foreign  parts,  or  derive 
"  any  authority  from  the  Roman  see,  do,  after  the 
"  expiration  of  the  last  day  of  November,  instant,  with- 
"  diaw  from  our  kingdom  of  Ireland  f  nor  let  any  such 
**  persons  after  that  date  venture  to  return  into  the,afore- 
**  said  kingdom.  Should  they  contravene  this  order,  we 
"strictly  ordain,  that  they  are  to  be  punished  to  the 
"  utmost  rigor  of  the  laws  in  this  case  already  speci- 
"  fied.  We,  moreover,  strictly  forbid  all  our  subjects 
"  of  Ireland  to  shelter  or  countenance  any  Jesuit,  semi- 
"  nary  priest,  or  other  priest,  who  will  dare  to  re- 
"  main  in  Ireland,  or  return  thither  after  the  10th  day 
"  of  December,  instant. 

"  But  if  any  of  the  aforesaid  Jesuits,  seminary  priests, 
"  or  priests  of  any  order,  shall  dare  to  remain  in  the 
"  kingdom  of  Ireland,  or  return  thither  after  the  10th 
**  day  of  December,  instant,  and  if  any  of  our  subjects 
"  shaU  dare  to  receive  or  shelter  them,  we  strictly  com- 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


m 


<'  mand  all  our  mayors,  constables,  sheriflfs,  judges,  6cc.f 
"  &c.,  to  act  as  faithful  subjects,  and  to  seize  the  bodies 
"  or  body  of  each  and  every  Jesuit,  seminary  priest,  and 
"  other  priests  who  have  received  their  ordination  in 
<'  foreign  parts,  and  commit  them  to  close  confinement 
«  until  our  viceroy  or  his  deputy  shall  have  inflicted  on 
"  them  just  and  aeserved  punishment. 

"  But  if  any  of  the  aforesaid  Jesuits,  seminary  priests, 
"  or  others  shall,  before  the  aforesaid  10th  day  of  De- 
"  cember  next,  present  himself  before  our  viceroy,  or  any 
"  other  of  our  officers  of  state,  signifying  his  desire  to 
"  frequent  our  churches,  according  to  the  spirit  of  ou  • 
"  laws,  we  will  give  permission  to  such  Jesuits,  seminary 
"  priests,  and  others,  to  tarry  in  our  kingdom,  and  return 
"  thereto  as  long  as  they  shall  continue  faithful  to  the 
"  observances  which  we  prescribe.  Such  persons  shall 
"  have  and  enjoy  all  the  privileges  belonging  to  our 
"  faithful  and  loving  subjects." 

«  Given  at  Westminster,  July  4, 1605." 

This  proclamation  was  followed  by  an  oath  of  abjura- 
tion, cast  by  the  king's  own  hand,  in  which  the  pope's 
power  to  depose  the  prince,  or  grant  away  any  of  his 
territories,  or  absolve  his  subjects  from  allegiance,  or 
authorize  them  to  bear  arms,  with  other  current  charges 
Dpon  Catholics,  was  expressly  repudiated.  Pope  Paul 
v.,  then  new  in  the  chair  of  Peter,  being  consulted  as  to 
the  oatb)  issued  his  brief  in  1606,  declaring  that  Catho- 
lics "  could  not,  with  safety  to  their  consciences  or  the 
Catholic  faith,  take  this  oath."  The  authenticity  of  this 
paper  being  questioned  by  certain  pliant,  conforming 
Catholics,  the  same  pontiff  the  following  year  confirmed 
its  edict  by  another.  To  these  papers  James  put  forth 
an  elaborate  reply,  quoting  the  fathers  and  canonists 
with  great  confidence  as  being  all  on  his  side.  Not  con- 
tent with  arguing  the  matter  with  Cardinal  Bellarmine 
and  Father  Suarez,  he  prepared  to  establish  his  opinions 
by  all  the  forces  of  the  state. 

In  his  deputy,  Arthur  Chichester,  he  had  a  zealous 
agent  of  tyranny,  the  pleasures  of  whose  life  were  two- 
fold, —  hunting  down  priests  and  seizing  confiscated 
estates  to  his  own  use. 


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ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


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" 

In  1607,  through  the  infamous  Baron  of  Howth,  this 
deputy  and  Cecil  charged  the  northern  Irish  chiefs  as 
intriguing  with  Spain  and  the  pope.  Cited  to  Dublin, 
O  Neil,  O'Donnell,  (Roderick,)  and  their  nearest  of  kin 
fled  from  Lough  Swilly  to  Normandy,  whence  thf^ 
passed  on  to  Rome,  never  to  return.  In  1608,  Cahir 
O'Doherty  of  Innishowen,  fearing  the  same  fate,  rose  in 
arms,  and  after  a  six  months'  war,  died  by  assassination. 
On  these  most  insufficient  grounds  the  six  countie  of 
Derry,  Donegal,  Armagh,  Tyrone,  Fermanagh,  and  Cavuii 
were  declared  confiscated  to  the  crown,  and  James  pre- 
pared to  plant  them  with  a  population,  which,  in  the 
polity  of  Providence,  became  the  mortal  enemies  of  his 
children.  James  I.  brought  in  the  race  who  drove  James 
IL  out.  As  Kerry,  Limerick,  Waterford,  and  Cork  had 
been  parcelled  out  twenty  years  before  to  the  Kiiigs, 
Butlers,  Boyles,  and  Raleighs,  so  the  lands  of  the 
O'Reillys  now  went  to  the  Hamiltons,  of  the  McGuires 
to'  the  FoUiots  and  Gores,  of  the  O'Donnells  to  the  Cun- 
ninghams, of  the  O'Dohertys  to  Chichester,  of  the 
O* Neils  to  Lindseys,  Stewarts,  and  Brownlows,  and  the 
city  of  Columbcille  to  the  fishmongers  of  London. 
Above  eight  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  acres  of 
arable  land  thob  changed  hands  and  lords,  almost  as 
quickly  as  in  the  course  of  nature  the  summer  stubble 
is  covered  with  the  winter's  frost.* 

Not  content  with  reducing  Ulster  to  the  fate  of  Mr.nster, 
Chichester,  in  James's  name,  issued,  in  July,  1610,  the 
following  proclamation :  — 

"  Whereas  the  peace  of  this  kingdom  has  been  im- 
**  perilled  by  seminarists  and  priests,  who  go  beyond 
"  seas  for  the  purposes  of  education,  and  on  their  return 
"  inculcate  doctrines  calculated  to  imbue  the  minds  of 
"  the  people  with  superstition  and  idolatry,  we  strictly 
*'  prohibit  all,  save  merchants  and  sailors,  from  passing 

*  For  the  security  of  his  Ulster  plantation,  James,  in  1611,  founded 
the  order  of  baronets,  giving  to  each  the  ancient  blazon  of  the  O'Neils 
—  "a  hand  sinister,  couped  at  the  wrist "  —  as  a  distinctive  crest.  But 
Derry  and  Enniskillen  proved  stronger  against  his  posterity  than  all  the 
baronets  were  for  them. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


91 


"  over  to  other  countries,  on  pain  of  inourring  the  royal 
"  indignation  and  the  other  penalties  decreed  against 
«  those  who  transgress  the  laws  of  this  realm.  Where- 
"  fore  we  command  all  noblemen,  merchants,  and  others, 
"  whose  children  are  abroad  for  educational  purposes,  to 
"  recall  them  within  one  year  from  date  hereof;  and,  in 
"  case  they  refuse  to  return,  all  parents,  friends,  Ate, 
"  sending  them  money,  directly  or  indirectly,  will  be 
"  punished  as  severely  as  the  law  permits." 

Ufster  and  Mnnster  being  put  out  of  the  contest, 
and  Connaught  being  rather  remote  from  En<?land  for 
immediate  subjection,  the  Catholics  cf  Lei  r  were 
left  alone  to  fight  the  battle  of  the  church.  In  '7,  the 
Baron  of  Devlin,  one  of  their  ablest  men.  Was  ii.  ,jrisoned 
on  charge  of  collusion  with  O'Neil;  in  1608,  he  waa 
liberated,  and  from  thenceforward  his  friends  wisely 
preferred  parliamentary  to  armed  opposition.  The  Par- 
liament convened  in  1613  gave  them  an  opportunity  to 
test  this  policy,  which  they  very  resolutely  did.  They 
set  up  a  candidate  of  their  own  for  the  speakership,  and 
cast  ninety-seven  votes  for  him ;  the  cwstle  candidate.  Sir 
John  Davies,  had  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven.  The 
contest  became  so  hot  that  James  —  fond  arbitrator  that 
he  was !  —  summoned  the  heads  of  both  parties  to  Eng- 
land. The  "recusants,"  as  the  Catholics  were  calledj 
caught  a  terrible  philippic  in  Whitehall,  and  for  a  session 
seceded  from  the  packed  Parliament.*    In  the  session  of 


*  James,  in  his  speech,  accused  them  of  having  Peter  Lombard 
(♦•whom  you  call  a  doctor  ")  as  their  agent  at  Rome,  and  Dr.  Hollywood 
in  Ireland ;  of  giving  their  souls  to  the  pope  and  their  bodies  to  the 
King  of  Spain !  He  wanted  to  know  whether  they  ever  expected  to 
have  •'  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  like  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ! "  The 
great  Chief  Justice  Coke  added,  at  the  end  of  the  royal  speech,  ♦'  May 
God  destroy  this  Irish  people,  who  cause  your  crown  to  tremble  on  your 
head  ! "  Preston,  Plunkett,  Talbot,  and  Gough  were  the  Irish  deputies. 
At  this  time  many  of  the  Irish  hierarchy  were  obliged  for  personal 
safety  to  reside  abroad.  "  But,"  writes  O'Sullivan,  «'  in  order  that  there 
may  be  priests  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  to  attend  to  the  cure  of  souls, 
a  salutary  plan  has  been  set  on  foot ;  for  the  better  understanding  of 
which  we  are  to  recollect  that  in  Ireland  there  are  four  archbishop- 
rics and  a  large  number  of  bishoprics ;  and  that  at  the  present  day 
(A.  D.  1621)  they  are  aH  held  by  ringleaders  of  heresy ;  and  that  Catho- 


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ATTEMPTS   TO   BSTABI4ISH   TUB 


1615)  they  agaia  appeared,  voted  to  legalize  th^  con- 
fiscation of  Xyster)  and,  in  part,  countenanced,  the  with- 
drawal of  military  and  civil  commissions  from'  all  officers 
professing  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  To  some  of 
these  <^  recusants,"  part  of  the  spoils  of  the  Celtic  chiefs 
was  given,  and  thus  a  contention  was  bred  between  the 
Norman  and  Milesian  Catholics,  which  has  not  since 
been  entirely  eradicated.  It  would,  however,  be  against 
the  record  to  assert  that  the' <* recusant''  party  did  not 
do  good  service  to  the  Catholic  cause.  They  were  a 
protection  to  all  the  clergy  who  remained  at  home ;  they 
held  in  check  bigoted  executive  and  judicial  officers, 
and  often  at  great  risk  to  themselves.  In  1622,  the 
policy  of  enforcing  the  oath  of  supremacy  was  again 
mtroduced  into  Parliament.  The  << recusants"  again 
refused  to  take  it,  and  were  summoned  by  the  Cord 
Deputy  Falkland  to  appear  before  him  and  the  council 
in  the  Star  Chamber,  on  the  22d  of  November.  "  After 
the  judges  had  explained  to  them  the  nature,  reason, 
and  equity  of  the  oath,  our  bishop  (Ifsher)  delivered 
himself  in  a  grand^speech  on  the  occasion ;  wherein  he 
demonstrated  that  the  king  was  the  supreme  and  only 
governor  within  his  dominions,  distinguishing  between 
the  power  of  the  keys'  and  of  the  sword,  and  showing 
that  they  by  no  means  clashed  together ;  that  the  juris- 
diction of  a  Roman  pontiff  over  the  universal  church 
was  a  usurped  and  unjust  jurisdiction,  and  quite  over- 
turned the  foundation  upon  which  it  was  built.     Some 

lie  prelates  are  not  appointed  to  their  titles  unless  in  some  few  instances, 
for  this  reason,  that  without  the  ecclesiastical  dues  it  seems  that  such  a 
number  of  Inshops  could  not  support  their  rank  and  consequeiice.  For 
which  reason  four  archbishops,  who  have  been  consecrated  by  the  Roman 
pontiff,  appoint  priests,  or  clerks,  or  persons  of  the  reUgious  orders,  for 
vicars-general  in  the  suffragan  bishoprics,  with  the  sanbtion  of  the  apos- 
tolic see.  These  latter  agaoh  appoint  others  for  the  charge  of  the  parish 
churches.  And  Eugene  Macmagauran,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and 
David  O' Carney,  of  Cashel,  encountering  great  perUs  an^  inunense 
labors,  are  personally  feeding  the  sheep  belonging  to  their  archbishop- 
rios.  While  Peter  Lombard,  i^rchbishop  of  .^^agh,  and  Florence 
O'Melconry,  of 'luami  (who  for  many  reasons  is  unable  to  live  saiis  from 
the  Hbglish  in  Ireland,)  have  intrusted  the  care  of  their  provinoes  to 
vicars." 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


d3 


of  those  who  were  called  to  hear  the  sentence  prtetnu- 
nire  (transportation)  pronounced  against  them,  were 
convinced  by  his  reasons,  and  submitted  willingly  to  take 
the  oath."  *  A  printed  copy  of  this  discourse  was  pre- 
sented to  the  king,  and  Usher  was  soon  after  presented 
to  the  primacy.  Whether  his  logic,  or  the  preemunire, 
convinced  those  who  took  the  oath  the  reader  may  con- 
jecture. 

In  16^,  Charles  I.  succeeded  his  father.  The  same 
year  he  married  Harrietta  Maria  of  France,  a  sincere 
and  practical  Catholic.  The  Catholics,  ever  hopeful  of 
deliverance,  saw  in  this  event  new  promises  of  relief  and 
protection ;  in  entertaining  which  they  were  again  dis- 
appointed. 

The  first  Parliament  called  by  Charles,  in  1626,  re- 
enacted  James's  abjuration  oath  of  1605,  and  even 
added  a  supplement  draughted  by  one  Berkely,  which 
required  them  to  deny  the  pope's  supremacy  "  over  the 
Catholic  church  in  geners*!,  and  myself  [the  swearer]  in 
particular."  Nor  was  this  teftt  theoretical  In  1629,  while 
the  Catholics  were  celebrating  mass  in  Cork  Street,  Dub- 
lin, the  Protestant  archbishop,  with  the  mayor  and  a 
file  of  musketeers,  were  sent  to  disperse  them ;  ^  which 
they  did,  taking  away  the  crucifixes  and  ornaments  of 
the  altar,  the  soldiers  hewing  down  the  image  of  St. 
Francis."  The  priests  and  friars  being  captured,  the 
people  assailed  the  pursuivants  with  stones  and  dubs, 
and  a  reenforcement  had  to  be  sent  to  secure  the  prison- 
ers. Under  the  same  deputy,  (Falkland,)  "  eight  Popish 
aldermen  of  Dublin  were  clapped  by  the  heels  for  not 
assisting  the  mayor ; "  the  revenues  of  the  corporation 
of  Waterford  were  escheated  for  "  obstinately  choosing 
a  succession  of  *  recusants '  for  their  chief  magistrates  )>"f 
and  a  proclamation  issued,  forbidding,  on  pain  of  im- 
prisonment, all  friars  and  priests  <'to  teach,  preach,  or 
celebrate  their  service  in  any  church,  chapel,  or  other 
public  oratory,  or  place,  or  to  teach  any  school  in  any 


-.ffi 

If » 1  u 


!       I 


*  Waie't  Irish  Bishops,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 

t  LeUad's  History  of  Ireland,  voL  ii.,  reign  of  Charles. 


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ATTEMPTS  TO   liBTABLISH  THS 


pl«ce  or  places  whatsoever  within  the  kinfldotn/^* 
Fifteen  religious  houses  in  Dublin  were  seized  to  the 
king's  use,  and  th?  college,  or  seminarv,  founded  in  the 
fou^eenth  century  by  Archbishop  De  Sicknor,  was  con- 
fiscated, and  a(i^e4  to  the  endowments  of  Trinity  Col- 


The  s^opnd  deputy  who  ruled  Ireland  for  King  Charles 
confirmed  all  the  fears  of  the  Catholics,  espeojLally  of 
such  as  kept  possession  of  property,  Wentwonth,  Barl  of 
Strafford,  not  excepting  Mountjoy,  was  the  ablest  of  all 
Irish  viceroys  •'^  a  man  of  great  foresight,  perfect  hypoc- 
risy, ^  sonorous,  military  eloquence,  both  In  writing  and 
speaking,  and  ^n  iron  resolution.  Money  being  the  imme- 
diate want  of  his  master,  he  offered  to  the  Catholics,  on 
his  arrival,  in  16^,  for  atid  in  consideration  of  J(  150,000, 
pertain  ^^  royal  ^aces,''  or  restrictions  of  the  penalties  on 
**  recusants.''  The  principal  concession  was,  thai  I  the 
crown  should  advance  no  claim  to  estates  not  f(»rfeited 
within  the  {Nrevious  sixty  years  —  a  proviso  which  covered 
all  the  remaining  titles  pf  the  ^* recusants"  in  l^inster 
and  Connaught.  They  consented  ;^but  he  continued  to 
keep  the  details  in  debate,  while  he  drew  the  money  in 
advance ;  and  then,  having  raised  a  regular  standing 
army,*^~an  institution  at  the  time  unknown  in  either 
island,  f^  he  proceeded  "  to  inquire  into  defective  titles  " 
in  Connaught.  Having  created  sixty  new  boroughs  and 
got  a  Parliament  to  do  his  bidding,  he  began  in  1634 
with  Roscommon.  The  grand  jury  of  that  county,  re- 
fusing to  find  defective  titles,  were  imprisoned  and  heavily 
fined ;  another  was  impanelled,  and  found  for  the  crown. 
The  Oalway  jury  resisted, <«nd  was  served  in  like  man- 
ner ;  Mayo  and  Sligo  were  yielded  without  a  Struggle ; 
^^0,000,  in  fines,  were  wrung  from  jurors  in  this  cam- 
paign, and  a  great  part  of  the  estates  of  Connaught  were 
seized  and  sold  as  crown  land.  In  the  seven  years  of 
his  viceroyalty,  this  able  despot  not '  only  contrived  to 
acquire  large  possessions  for  himself,  to  build  his  "  folly  " 
at   Naas  and    "park"    in   Wicklow,  to    expend  over 

*  ^iVSbwoith's  Collections,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


PR0TB8TANT   SEFOBMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


% 


j£  100,000  of  public  money  in  Ireland,  bnt  also  to  make 
the  island  the  chief  source  of  the  king's  revenue. ' 

To  Wentworth  belongs  the  first  systematic  attempt 
at  proselytizing  Irish  children.  The  schools  of  **  Kins's 
Wards,"  in  London,  Canterbury,  and  Dublin,  originally 
designed  for  the  heirs  and  hostages  of  suspected  chiefs, 
had  become  thoroughly  Protestant  institutions.  The 
Court  of  Wards,,  in  1617,  decided  that  all  minors  claim- 
ing property  should  attend  these  schools.  I«ord  Orrery 
complains  that  frequently  these  unfortunates  were  '^sold 
like  cattle  in  the  market ; ''  Sir  Edward  Coke's  infamous 
argument  for  their  perpetual  imprisonment  in  the  Tower 
remains  in  irrevocable  type ;  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  in 
their  remonstrance,  dated  Trim,  17th  March,  1642,  assert 
that  ^*  the  heirs  of  Catholic  noblemen  and  other  Catholics 
were  most  inhumanly  dealt  with  "  by  the  Court  of  Wards. 
Male  and  female,  the  king  <<  disposed  of  them  in  mar- 
nuee  as  he  thought  fit."  Indeed,  whenever  we  find  an 
Irisn  apostate  or  renegade  during  the  rest  of  the  cen- 
toify,  we  may  be  almost  certain  that  he  graduated  in 
«the  School  of  Wards."* 

Among  his  various  oppressions,  StrafTwd  had  trodden 
hard  on  several  of  the  Scotch  planters  at  the  north. 
They,  as  Presbyterians  and  Scots,  appealed  to  their 
brethre;i  in  England  and  Scotland ;  their  murmurs  we«^ 
soon  lost  in  the  sterner  accents  ojf  their  co-religionists> 
who,  when  they  drove  the  viceroy  to  the  scaffold,  felt  the 
terrible  reality  of  the  power  they  had  so  long  sought. 
The  Puritans,  as  this  party  were  called,  deserve  our 
special  attention. 

Beginning  under  King  Edward,  this  sect  was  fostered 
by  the  example  of  Hooper,  Jewell,  and  Grindall,  among 
the  reformed  bishops.  They  had  active  principals  in 
Tyndal,  Coverdale,  Fox,  White,  and  -Robert  Browne, 
who  all  taught  that  the  Bible  was  not  only  the  revela- 
tion of  God,  but  the  strict  law  of  civil  and  religious 
government;  that  the  king's  headship,  bi^ops,  holy 

*  On  the  School  and  Court  of  Wards,  see  Bvmet's  Hvitory  of  his 
Own  Times,  vol.  L,  or  Carte's  Ormond,  vol.  i. 


n 


>\ 


96 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


orders,  saints'  days  and  ceremonies,  were  an  abomina* 
tion  an^  a  hissing,  odious  to  the  Lord.  Their  formal 
existence  dates  from  the  year  1566,  and  their  action,'  as  a 
political  party,  from  the  violence  with  which,  twenty 
years  later,  Elizabeth's  archbishop,  Whitgift^  assailed 
their  conventicles.  Thenceforth  every  Parliament  was  full 
of  their  petitions,  and  every  prison  had  some  of  their 
preachers.  On  arriving  in  England,  in  1603,  James 
invited  their  chief  men  to  dispute  with  his  bishops,  and 
decided,  if  they  did  not  conform,  to  **  harrie  them  out  o' 
the  land ; "  their  opinions  soon  after  began  to  get  into 
the  press,  and  their  brother  Protestants  found  it  impossi- 
ble to  defeat  arguments  based  upon  the  radical  princi- 
ples of  the  reformation.  The  churchmen  became  more 
prelatic,  and  the  Puritans  more  fanalic;  the  one  con- 
tending that  the  Episcopal  order  was  innately  inde- 
{>endent  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  others  warringi  en 
ove  locks  and  archery  sports,  as  vehemently  a?  on 
church  music  and  vestments.  The  weak  King  Jamea 
published  his  Book  of  Sports  and  Orders  in  Council  to 
encourage  Whitsun  ales  and  Morris  dances  of  Sundays; 
Laud,  Charles's  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  strove  to 
make  "  thorough  "  riddance  of  the  crop-eared  knaves ; 
still  the  party  spread  through  the  rural  districts,  em- 
bracing in  its  circles  not  only  artisans  and  country  folk, 
but  maiiy  distinguished  scholars,  able  commoners,  and 
even  some  of  the  peerage. 

The  two  first  Stuarts,  by  pushing  obedience  into  strict 
conformity,  had  forced  a  junction  between  republicanism 
and  Puritanism.  At  James's  accession,  the  Puritans  were 
amonff  the  most  loyal  in  England ;  yet  that  same  gener- 
ation lived  to  take  oif  his  son's  head,  and  to  change  the 
whole  fabric  of  the  government.  Scotch  Presbyterifin- 
ism  excited  and  aided  this  change,  Henderson  and  Gil- 
lespie being  the  natural  allies  of  Calamy,  Selden,  and 
the  Vanes.  A  common  policy  «ind  a  common  heresy 
bound  England  and  Scotland  in  as  dose  Unity  as  the 
nature  of  the  two  nations  allowed. 

To  both  parties  Ireland  was  a  hateful  name.  Noth- 
ing good,  in  their  eyes,  could  come  out  of  that  Nazareth. ' 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


97 


In  Scotland,  there  were  many,  who,  <<  fore9eeing  that  Ire- 
land must  be  the  stage  to  act  upon,  it  being  unsettled, 
and   many  forfeited   lands  therein  altogether  wasted, 

?roceeded  to  push  for  fortunes  in  that  kingdom."  *  The 
^uritans  of  England,  with  their  brethren  in  America, 
exclaimed,  **  Cursed  be  he.  that  holdeth  back  his  sword 
from  blood !  yea,  cursed  be  he  that  maketh  not  his  sword 
drank, with  Irish  blood ! "  f 

In  this  spirit  the  plantation  of  the  northern  lands  was 
undertaken  by  ihe  Scotch ;  in  this  spirit  war  was  made 
by  the  Puritans.  It  may  be  coi^ectured  how  the  natives 
were  to  fare  at  the  hands  of  both. 

Charles's  licentious  court  and  excessive  taxation  gave 
bis  enemies  textSv  enough  for  seditious  sermons.  From 
his  accession  till  his  forced  flight  from  London  to  throw 
himself  on  the  country,  he  was  unhappy  in  his  favorites, 
his  measures,  and  Kis  temper.  The  ship  money  and  the 
property  ta^,  though  not  the  causes,  were  the  fuel  of  the 
faction  which,  in  truth,  began  with  the  Puritan  preachers. 
The  king,  as  head  of  the  church  and  patron  of  the 
bishops,  was  from  the  first  their  chief  target,  and  their 
followers  were  only  logical  in  extending  hostility  to  his 
temporfil,  as  included  in  his  spiritual  supremacy.  The 
Irish  Catholic  leaders  saw  clearly  into  the  king's  dangers, 
and  when  we  find  them  overlooking  his  duplicity,  excus- 
ing his  dishonor,  and  going  three  fourths  of  the  way  to 
patch  up  broken  covenants  with  him,  we  should  remem- 
ber that  they  did  not  yield  so  much  from  servility  as 
because,  at  bottom,  his  cause  was  their  own.  His  deliv- 
erance was  their  hope,  as  his  prostration  would  inevitably 
let  in  the  accumulated  Puritan  deluge  upon  them  and 
their  people. 

Events  in  England  hurried  rapidly  on ;  the  controversy 
between  the  king  and  his  Parliament  was  daily  becom- 


*  The  Simple  Cobbler  of  Agawam,  in  America.  London  reprint,  1647. 
This  work  was  written  b>  Kev.  Nathaniel  Ward,  pastor  of  Agawam, 
near  FlymouUi,  Massachusetts.  Ward  also  drew  the  first  charter  of 
that  colony     He  returned  to  England,  and  died  there  in  1653. 

t  Montgomery  Manuscript,  quoted  in  McNevin's  Confiscation  of 
Ulster. 


9 


,!  !■ 


4 


S*:     , 


H 


i\ 


;| 


\, 


98 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


ing  ir.ore  imbittered,  and  Irish  affairs  more  fieqaent 
subjects  of  debate.  In  1642,  the  king  suddenly  fled  from 
London,  fond  sent  his  heir  and  queen,  for  safety,  to  Hol- 
land. The  Parliament  proceeded  to  raise  an  army,  and 
to  remodel  the  Reformed  Church  on  Puritan  principles. 
Presbyterianism,  recognized  as  the  church  of  Scotland  in 
1580,  was  now  declared  to  be  the  church  of  England. 

In  June,  1643,  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  "Divinei 
met  in  Henry  VIL's  Chapel.  The  parliamentary  or- 
dinance had  summoned  one*  hundred  and  fifty-one  pe^ 
sons  by  name  to  this  convocation  — -  ten  lords  and  twenty 
commoners,  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  divines.  Scot* 
land  was  represented  by  four  divines  and  two  laymen ; 
from  Ireland,  Archbishop  Usher  and  ^*  Joshua  Hoyle,  D. 
D., ''  of  Dublin,  were  invited.  Neither  of  these  persohs  ai^ 
swered  the  summons.  For  four  years  this  assembly  sa^ 
and  besides  "  the  Westminster  donfession  of  Faith|''  it 
originated  "  the  solemn  league  and  covenant,"  which  was 
ratified  by  the  English  Parliament  in  1643,  and  the 
Scotch  Parliament  in  1644.*  This  memorable  treaty 
bound  its  signers  to  attempt  ^^  the  reformation  and  defence 
of  religion,  the  honor  and  happiness  of  the  king,  and 
the  peace  and  safety  of  the  three  kingdoms  of  Scotland, 
Bngland,  and  Ireland ;''  "  the  preservation  of  thereformsd 
religion  in  the  church  of  Scotland  ; "  to  endeavor  "  to 
bring  the  churches  of  God  in  the  three  kingdoms  to.  the 
nearest  conjunction  and  uniformity  in  religion;''  and  "in 
like  manner,  without  respect  of  persons,  [to]  endeavor 
the  extirpation  of  Popery,  prelacy,  superstition,  heresy, 
schism,  profaneness,"  "in  the  three  kingdoms." f  Further, 
"  to  endeavor  the  cUscovery  of  all  such  as  have  been,  or 
shall  be,  incendiaries,  malignants,  or  evil  instruments  by 
hindering  the  reformatio^  of  religion,  dividing  the  king 
fieom  his  people,  or  one  of  the  kingdoms  from  one  an- 
other"—  that  is,  all  Irish  Catholics,  lay  and  clerical, 
were  to  be  so  "  discovered "  and  brought  \'  to  condign 
punishment."     "And  this  covenant  we  make  "  -—  so  it 

*  King  Charles  II.  was  constrained,  when  in  custody  of  the  Soottidi 
OoTenanters,  to  sign  **  the  solemn  league  "  at  Spey,  June  23,  1660,  and 
again  to  re-sign  it  at  Scone,  January  1,  1661. 

t  Hetheringtoa'a  History  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  p.  118. 


PROTBBTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


condaded— «"in  the  presence  of  "Almiffhty  God)  the 
searcher  of  all  hearts,  with  a  true  intention  to  perform 
the  same,  as  we  shall  answer  at  that  great  day  when  the 
secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  disclosed;  most  humbly 
beseeching  the  Lord  to  strengthen  us  by  his  Holy  Spirit 
for  this  end,  and  to  bless  our  desires  and  proceedings 
with  such  success  as  may  be  deliverance  and  safety  to 
Jiis  people.''  Such  was  the  declaration  of  war  against 
Catholics,  issued  by  the  learned  Assembly  of  Westmin* 
ster,  and  confirmed  by  the  two  Parliaments  of  England 
and  Scotland.  '  Under  this  covenant  the  united  forces  of 
Britain  were  to  march  against  all  who  could  not  call 
God  to  witness  their  adoption  of  **  the  solemn  league 
and  covenant" 

Charles  I.,  as  soon  as  the  covenant  appeared,  issued 
his  condemnation  of  it;  all  the  reformed  prelates,  of 
course,  did  likewise;  but  the  Presbyterians,  Independents, 
and  Brownists,  of  the  liong  Parliament,  armed  in  its  de- 
fenccf  and  their  Scottish  colleagues  did  likewise.  Then 
came  the  civil  war ;  the  king  a-field,  and  the  rebels  -in 
possession  of  the  capital ;  Strafford  beheaded,  and  Crom- 
well lieutenant  general  of  the  army. 


4 


! 


■'  ;■■ 


■  s 


CHAPTER    VI. 


THE  PRESBYTERIANS  AND  PURITANS  IN  IREILAND.— EXTERMINA- 
TION THEIR  POLICY.  — ULSTER  BISING  OF  1641.  •>  NEW  CATHOLIC 
CONFEDERACY  FOUNDED  BY  RORY  O'MOORE  — OATH  OF. CON- 
FEDERATION  GENERAL  INSURRECITON.  —  CATHOLIC  LEGISLA- 
TION.—PETERS  AND  JEROME.  — OWEN  ROE  0*N£IL  -ORMOND.— 
CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND.  — THE  PURITAN  PENAL  LAWS. - 
DEATH  OF   CROMWELL. 

Presbyterianism,  in  Scotland,  dates  from  1572 — the 
era  of  Knox's  Book  of  Discipline;  in  Ireland,  it  may 
be  properly  dated  from  the  Montgomery  plantation,  in 
Down;  that  is,  from  1^)6.  Montgomery  originally 
obtained  his  title  to  a  large  tract  in  that  county  from 


I 


r-iv 


100 


ATTEMPTS   TO    E8TABLIBB   THE 


t:1 


O^Neil;  James  I.  confirmed  it,  with  the  proviso  <«that 
the  lands  should  be  planted  with  Bntish  Protestants, 
and  that  no  grant  of  fee  farm  should  be  made  to  any 
person  of  mere  Irish  extraction."  Accordingly  we 
find  for  years  afterwards  a  steady. importation  of  Protes- 
tant tenants,  Shaws,  Boyds,  Keiths,  Maxwells,  and  Bay- 
leys,  all  from  Scotland.  In  the  vaults  of  Orey  Abbey, 
and  the  -< stump  of' an  old  castle"  at  Newtown,  the  pio- 
neers of  this  emigration  had  to  abide  until  they  erected 
fittec  homesteads;  the  Montffomery  family  spent  their 
first  year  in  an  old  priory,  rooted  in  for  their  service.  In 
1609,  on  the  plea  of  a  plot,  which  was  never  proved  to 
exist,  the  six  counties  of  Ulster  were  declared  to  be 
vested  in  the  crown,  and  by  the  crown,  in  a  subsequent 
proclamation,  were  offered  to  adventurers  **well  affected  in 
religion."   The  rules  of  the  plantation  were  simply  four  :-^ 

^  I.  That  the  proportion  of  land  to  be  distributed  to 
**  undertakers  may  be  of  three  different  quantities.  The 
^  first  and  least  may  consist  of  so  many  parcels  of  land 
^  as  will  maice  a  thousand  English  acres,  or  thereabouts ; 
**  the  second  or  middle  proportion,  of  so  many  parcels  as 
**  will  make  fifteen  hundred  English  acres,  or  thereabouts ; 
*<  the  third,  and  greatest,  of  so  many  parcels  as  will  make 
**  two  thousand  English  acres,  or  thereabouts. 

«  II.  That  all  lands  escheated  in  every  county  may  be 
f*  divided  into,  four  parts,  whereof  two  parts  may  be  di- 
*'  vided  into  proportions  consisting  of  a  thousand  acres 
"  apiece,  a  third  part  into  proportions  of  fifteen  hundred 
*<  acres,  and  the  fourth  part  into  proportions  of  two  thou* 
*^  sand  acres. 

*<  III.  That  every  proportion  be  made  a  pctrish,  and  a 
*'  parish  church  be  erected  thereon ;  and  the  incumbents 
"  be  endowed  with  glebes  of  several  quantities,  viz. :  An 
*'  incumbent  of  a  parish  of  a  thousand  acres  to  have 
"  sixty  acres,  of  a  parish  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  to  have 
"  nuiety  acres,  and  of  a  parish  of  two  thousand  acres  to 
^*  have  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres;  and  that  the 
**  whole  tithes,  and  the  duties  of  every  parish,  be  allotted 
*<  to  every  incumbent,  besides  the  glebes  aforesaid. 

"  IV.  That  the  undertakers  of  these  lands  be  of  sev^ 
^  oral  sorts — first,   English  and  Scottish,  who  are  to 


!  r> 


1 


I  '! 


PROTESTANT   JtKFOIMATION    1%  IIBLAND. 


101 


«  plant  their  proportions  with  English  and  Scottish  ten* 
<^  ants ;  second,  servitors  in  Ireland,  who  may  take 
*<  English  or  lash  tenants  at  their  choice;  third,  nattivet 
<^  of  those  counties,  who  are  to  be  freeholders. 

"  Following  these  four  general  principles  of  divisioa 
"'were  special  directions  for  each  coonty,  based  npon 
<^  their  relative  statistics.  But,  before  stating  tbese 
**  special  directions,  it  will  be  well  to  consider  those  ap>« 
«  plicable  to  the  whole  scheme  of  the  plantation. 

<^  In  each  county,  the  authors  of  this  profcct  divided 
<'  the  lands  escheated  into  two  divisions,  one  the  portion 
*<  of  the  church,  and  the  other  the  portion  of  the  under- 
<^  takers.  The  first  was  composed  of  termon,  monas^ 
<<  tery,  and  mensall  or  demesne  lands ;  ihb  second,  of 
*^  the  escheated  territories  of  the  <  late  traitors.' "  * 

The  established  clergy  was  thus  provided  for  by  the 
king,  while  the  Presbyterian  laity  were  enriched  by  the 
same  despotic  exercise  of  power.  These  latter  naturally 
organized  their  presbyteries^  on  the  Scottish  plan,  and  imi* 
ported  their  ministers  from  Scotland.  For  some  time  the 
connection  was  intimate  and  cordial ;  bat  after  &  genera^ 
tion  or  two,  ^*  the  church  of  Scotland ''  ceased  to  control 
"  the  church  of  Ulster,"  and  there  was  not  a  believer  ov 
elder  left  who  considered  himself  bound  by  the  decre«a> 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  Scotland. 

While  this  new  fonn  of  Protestantism  \iras  expanding 
in  the  north,  the  ^^  recusant "  Catholics  were  again  trying 
the  Parliament  to  secede,  a  second  time,  in  1623.  This 
time  they  did  not  return ;  but  each  one,  sullen  or  active 
according  to  his  humor,  agitated  for  resistance  or  re- 
mained quietly  on  his  estate.   The  common  people  were 

*  The  actual  division  throughout  Ulster  may  be  pudged  firom  this  sam- 
ple: "Tyrowen  contained  ~of  '  available  land,'  mcluding  the  ecclesi- 
astical possessions,  1571  ballyboes,  or  98,187  acres ;  Coleraine,  othenrise 
O'Cahan's  country,  contained  547  ballyboes,  or  34,187  acre»,  of  which* 
the  Bishop  of^Derry  claimed  termon  lands  ^  the  amount  of  6343  acre^ ; 
Donegal  contained  110,700  acres,  of  which  9000  acres  were  claimed 
as  termon  lands;  Fermanagh,  commonly  called  MuOwtr«'s  country, 
contained  1070tathe8,  or  33,437  acres,  with  46  islands ;  Cavan,  O'Reilljr^ 
country,  contained  620  polls,  or  40,500  acres ;  and  Armagh  contained  77,- 
800  acres,  of  whuh  ^e  primate's  share  was  to  be  2400  aoiesr  and  the  iof 
combents'  glebes  were  to  enjoy  4660  acres.'* 

9* 


102 


ATTBMPTt  TO  ESTABLISH   THB 


•[I 


II' 


as  devoted  as  ever  to  their  old  faith  and  pastors.  A 
thousand  clergymen  still  remained  in  the  country,  secretly 
or  openly,  while  as  many  more,  from  the  colleffes  of 
France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  waited  but  opportunities  to 
return. 

A  man  was  wanting  to  combine  and  five,  heart  to 
the  dispersed  believers.  This  man  appeared  in  Roger^  or 
Rory,  O' Moore,  the  heir  of  a  line  of  brave  ancestors; 
whose  father  and  grandfather  had  both  died  in  defence 
of  the  church  and  countrv.  Carried  into  Spain  when  a 
child,  he  returned  soon  aner  Charles's  accession.  Edu- 
cated in  all  the  science  of  that  age,  with  the  son  of 
Hugh  O'Neil  as  his  friend  and  fellow-student,  he  grew 
in  patriotism  as  in  years.*  His  favorite  project  was  to 
unite  the  Milesian  and  Norman  Catholics  in  one  holy 
brotherhood.  To  this  end  he  gave  up  his  nc^tural  right 
to  the  lands  of  Leix,  and  with  his  brother  Lysagh,  made 
a  home  at  Ballynagh,  '*  near  the  Boyne."  He  rode  from 
castle  to  castle,  reasoning  and  exhorting  with  men  of 
various  minds.  So  clearly  did  the  people  understand  his 
labors,  that  this  was  their  watchword  —  <*  Our  trust  is  in 
God  and  our  Lady  and  Rory  O' Moore."  He  was  equally 
successful  with  the  noble  in  his  hall  and  the  farmer  in 
his  bawn.  Who,  indeed,  could  resist  this  self-denying 
man,  as  he  begged  the  very  holders  of  his  own  acres 
to  unite  With  him  for  their  joint  preservation  ?  *'  Keep 
'  my  lands,"  said  he,  "  but  help  me  to  preserve  bur  altars." 
He  renounced  with  all  solemnity  just  claims  to  a  restora- 
tion of  his  estates,  and  urged  only  dnity  for  the  common 
faith  and  common  defence.  Could  heroism  rise  higher 
above  the  earth  ?  t 

In  1640,  O' Moore  saw  that  his  patient  projects  began 
to  operate.  Every  remonstrance,  as  he  expected,  was  a 
failure ;  the  lords  of  the  Pale  were  rudely  repulsed  from 

111.  I  -  ■ 

«  Young  O'Neil  was  found  strangled  in  his  bed  at  Brussels ;  foul 
play  was  suspected  on  Ae  part  of  the  British  agents  theret 

t  Famell's  sketch  of  O'Moore  is  the  best  and  briefest  I  have  met : 
<*Boger  O'Moore  possessed  all  the  qualities  of  the  heroic  ^^  character, 
talents,  promptitude,  courage,  and  love  of  country ;  his  person  was  re- 
markably graoef^  bis  aspect  dignified,  his  maimers  courteous."  — Penal 
Law$,  p.  113.  —  O'Moore'ii  daughter  Anna  was  the  mother  of  Patrick 
Saisfitld. 


PBOTBBTANT   RBPORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


108 


the  castle,  and  ordered  to  quit  Dublin ;  an  intercepted 
letter  from  the  Earl  of  Essex  to  the  deputy,  advising  their 
transportatioatothe  West  Indies,  was  printed ;  and  lastly, 
three  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  acres  of  their  land 
in  Leinster  was  declared  to  be  confiscated.  Driven  on 
by  these  incentives,  Preston,  Lord  Cbrmanstown,  on 
the  part  of  the  Norman  aristocracy,  met  Roger  O' Moore," 
on  the  hill  of  Knoc-Crofty,  near  Tara,  and  assured  him 
of  their  desire  for  union  and  cooperation.  This  was  tlfe 
beginninff  of  the  second  Catholic  confederation.  On 
the  23d  October,  1641,  impatient,  perhaps,  of  O'Moore's 
slower  policy.  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil  appeared  in  arms  in 
the  north.*  Appointing  four  captains,  and  dividing  his 
forces  into  four  divisions,  he  assailed  simultaneously  the 
chief  garrisons  of  the  English.  Dungannon,  the  home 
of  his  ancestors,  Strabane,  Armagh,  Portadown,  CaVan, 
and  Newry  were  before  three  months  in  his  keeping. 
Except  the  posts  of  Derry,  Coleraine,  and  Carrickfergus, 
the  English  retained  no  strongholds  in  Ulster.  In  l>e- 
cember,  the  Leinster  lords  equipped  a  confederate  force, 
and  Kilkenny,  Wexford,  Ross,  and  .Waterford  opened 
their  gates  to  Lord  Mountgarrett  and  his  suborainate 
officers.  The  last  day  of  the  :!ame  month,  the  Irish  of 
Tipperary,  under  Philip  O'Dwyer,  took  Cashel,  and  about 
the  same  time,  Limerick,  Clare,  and  the  Catholics  of 
Connaught  joined  in  the  general  insurrection. 

At  Lqrgan  and  Portadown,  O'Neil  certainly  showed 
a  revengefiil  and  merciless  spirit  in  refusing  quarter. 
This  conduct  contrasts  strongly  with  the  clemency  he 
exhibited  at  the  capture  of  Ballaghie,  where  they  allowed 
the  defender,  Conway,  *<  to  march  out  with  his  men,  and 
to  carry  away  trunks,  with  plate  and  money,  to  Antrim."  f 

*  The  pretended  discoyery  by  Clotworthy's  servant,  O'Gonnally,  of  a 
general  massaore  o£  the  Protestants,  is  admirably  analyzed  by  Matthew 
Carey,  of  Fbiladelphia,  to  whose  memory  I  offer  my  humble  tribute 
of  homage.  (For  this  analysis,  see  Appendix,  p.  371.)  Lord  Conor 
McQuire  and  Colonel  Hugh  McMahon  were  arrested  in  Dublin,  on  the 
23d  of  October,  on  that  scoundrel's  testimony.  McMahon  was  dreadAilly 
racked,  but  made  no  conifession ;  Lord  McGuire  died  on  the  sdUSbld,  at 
Tyburn,  in  1644,  cteclaring  his  Mnalterable  adhesion  to  the  Catholic 
fiiith.  McMahon  was  afterwards  one  of  the  supreme  councU  of  the 
Catholic  confederacy. 

t  Carte's  life  of  Ormond,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 


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104 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


We  must  remember  that  in  this  interval  of  a  fortnight 
occurred  the  terrible  massacre,  on  Island  Magee,  by  the 
Presbyterian  garrison  of  Carrickfergus.  .Upon  this  islet, 
accessible  on  the  land  side  at  low  water,  dwelt  three 
thousand  souls.  On  the  night,  some  say  of  the  1st,  some 
of  the  6th  of  November,  the  Covenanters  surrounded 
the  island  on  three  sides,  driving  the  entire  population, 
with  sword  and  bayonet,  towards  the  clefts  of  the  high, 
rocky  sea-coast.  The  entire  population,  "  men,  women, 
and  children,  were  cruelly  massacred,"  says  Carte ;  some 
were  killed  on  the  shore,  the  rest  drowned  in  the  tumultu- 
ous waves  of  the  North  Channel.  We  hear  much  of  Sicil- 
ian Vespers,  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  of  Albigensian 
massacres ;  but  what  English  book  mentions  the  slaughter 
of  the  three  thousand  Catholics  at  Island  Magee  ?  * 

So  closed  the  year  1641,  than  which  no  poor  year  was 
ever  more  slandered.  The  "great  Popish  massacre  *'  \\)(as 
an  invention  of  the  Ir'uritans  to  inculpate  the  queen  and 
her  friends,  to  throw  discredit  on  the  king's  "  graces,''  and 
to  justify  their  own  military  preparations.  The  credu- 
lity of  that  age,  in  which  Oates,  Bedlow,  and  Danger- 
field  were  educated,  was  easily  imposed  on.  Even  grave 
historians  have  adopted  the  inventions  of  the  Puritan 
broadsheets  of  1641  and  1642.  The  Earl  of  Warwick 
sets  down  the  number  massacred  at  two  hundred  thousand 
souls ;  Sir  John  Temple  at  three  hundred  thousand ;  the 
historian  Rapin,  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  thou- 
sand; Clarendon,  at  forty  or  fifty  thousand;  Milton 
at  eighty  thousand ;  Hume  at  forty  thousand ;  Carte  at 
twelve  thousand;  Dr.  Warner  at  four  thousand  and 
twenty-eight,  which  "  in  his  conscience,"  he  takes  to  be 
an  exaggeration!  Such  are  the  discrepancies  of  the 
strictly  Proiestant  historians.  Let  us  consider  the  true 
basis  of  calculation  — the  then  population  of  freland.f  In 
1641,  the  total  was  but  one  millon  four  hundred  and 

*  The  tradition  of  Ulster  relates  that  three  of  the  male  inhabitants 
only  escaped,  and  that  from  them  the  Catholic  McGees'of  the  north  of 
Ireland  are  all  descended.  It  is  a  source  of  pride  to  the  present  writer 
that  the  blood  of  that  martyr  clan- flows  in  his  veins. 

t  Sir  William  Petty's  Survey,  in  Dublin  Society's  Library.  Dr.  Lin- 
gard  has  proved  that  there  is  no  mention  whatever  of  a  Protestant  mas- 
6a«re  in  the  state  papers  of  1641 1 


t  I 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


105 


forty-six  thousand ;  of  which,  by  Protestant  computation, 
the  Protestants  were  as  two  in  eleven,  or  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  in  all  the  four  provinces.  Of  these 
fully  one  half  lived  in  Dublin  and  other  walled  towns, 
which  the  English  never  lost,  and,  at  most,  but  twenty 
thousand  were  residents  in  Ulster.  We  are  told  by  a 
contemporary  that  six  thousand^  out  of  the  single  county 
of  Fermanagh,  were  saved,  notwithstanding  that  it  was 
the  county  of  Lord  McGuire,  whose  recent  seizure  must 
have  excited  the  indignation  of  his  wide-spread  clans- 
men. But  why  argue  upon  it  ?  Whoever  will  examine 
candidly  the  evidence  of  the  pretended  massacre  will 
find  that  it  has  no  wide  foundation.  Instances  of  indi- 
vidual revenge,  of  unnecessary  bloodshed,  no  doubt  there 
were ;  the  old  proprietors,  in  some  cases,  washed  out  the 
title  deeds  of  the  Puritan  farmers  in  their  blood,  and 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Portadown,  Monaghan,  and 
other  towns,  were  butchered  by  the  conquerors;  but  a 
general  or  even  local  "  massacre  "  never  occurred.  With 
Warner  we  assert,  "  it  is  easy  enough  to  demonstrate  the 
falsehood  of  the  relation  of  every  Protestant  historian  of 
the  rebellion,"  *  and  with  Edmund  Burke,  who  examined, 
with  Dr.  Leland,  the  entire  evidence,  we  must  express 
our  utter  astonishment  that  writers  of  ^'pleasant  his- 
tories" should  yet  venture  to  reprint  the  fifty  times 
refuted  lies  of  the  Puritan  "  broad  sheets."  f    • 

During  the  winter  of  1641,  O' Moore  and  his  coadju- 
tors  were  not  idle.  In  March,  the  lords  of  "  the  Pale," 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  tried  one  last  remonstrance,  which 
took  its  name  from  Trim,  where  it  was  agreed  on.  This 
document  recites  the  grievances  of  the  body,  protests 
their  loyalty,  and  prays  for  relief.  It  was  received  by 
the  king's  commissioners,  but  no  answer  was  returned. 
At  Kells,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  a  provincial  synod 
for  Ulster,  summoned  by  the  primate,  Hugh  O'Neil, 
assembled.  With  a  politic  motive  this  synod  suggested 
a  national  council,  and  adjourned  to  meet  it  at  Kil- 
kenny, on  the  10th  of  May  following.  On  the  8th 
of  April,  King  Charles,  in   his'  speech  to  Parliament, 

*  Warner's  History  of  Ireland,  reign  of  Charles  I. 
^t  Prior's  life  of  Butkfi. 


El  I 


106 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


'iA. 


liW' 


declared  that  he  ^*  would  never  consent  to  the  toleration 
of  the  Popish  profession,  or  the  abolition  of  the  laws  then 
in  force  against  Popish  recusants."  He  expressed  bis 
determination  of  crossing  the  channel  personally  to  head 

,the  forces  against  "the  detestable  rebels."  The  Puritan 
Parliament,  however,  withheld  his  supplies  for  their  own 
reasons,  and  at  the  same  time  induced  the  Scotch  Par- 
liament to  send  over  two  thousand  five  hundred  men, 
under  General  Monroe,  who  landed  at  Carrickfergus,  on 
the  15th  of  April,  one  week  after  the  king's  speech  was 
delivered. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  Irish  hierarchy  assem- 
bled at  Kilkenny,  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  •proceeded  to 
deliberate  on  the  state  of  thie  kingdom.  The  archbishops 
of  Armagl^,  Tuam,  and  Cashel,  six  bishops  and  five 
proxies,  were  present.  As  the  only  remaining  estate  of 
the  Celtic  constitution,  as  members  of  an  order  whi^h 
in  that  age  possessed  throughout  Europe  legislative 
powers,  and  as  the  actual  guides  of  the  body  of  the 
people,  their  right  to  do  so  is  indisputable.  This  august 
council  issued  a  manifesto  to  the  Catholics  of  Ireland, 
calling  on  them  to  confederate  for  the  common  defence. 
They  then  ordained  the  following  basis  of  confedera- 
tion:— 

"  L  Whereas  the  war  which  now  in  Ireland  the 
*^  Catholics  do  maintain  against  sectaries,  and  chiefly 
**  against  Puritans,  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
"  gion,  —  for  the  maintenance  of  the  prerogative  and 

•"  royal  rights  of  our  gracious  King  Charles, —  for  our 
"gracious  queen,  so  unworthily  abused  by  the  Puritans, 

' "  —  for  the  honor,  safety,  and  health  of  their  royal  issue, 
«  — for  to  avert  and  repair  the  injuries  done  to  them, — 
"  for  the  conversion  of  the  just  and  lawful  safeguard, 
*^  liberties,  and  rights  of  Ireland,  —  and,  lastly,  for  the 
"  defence  of  their  own  lives,  fortunes,  lands,  and  posses< 
^*  sions ; — whereas  this  war  is  undertaken  for  the  foresaid 
"  causes  against  unlawful  usurpers,  oppressors,  and  the 
**  enemies  of  the  Catholics,  chiefly  Puritans,  and  that 
"hereof  we  are  informed,  as  well  by  divers  and  true  re- 
"  monstrances  of  divers  provinces,  counties,  and  noble* 
**  men,  as  also  by  the  unanimom  cottsent  md  agreement 


"of  a 
"  we 
"  law] 
"bef 
"  title, 
"  such 
"  then 
"  puni 
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«II. 
"  mors 
"  name 
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"  unto 
« truth, 
"  comn 
"  tions 
"  a  cat 
"  the  ki 
"  this  kj 
«  Count 
"  kingd( 
"  intent 
"  *  II] 
"  well  . 
"  compa 
"  towns 
"  any  ei 

"  counci 
"  councj 
"  ties  ir 
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"  cities  I 
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PR0TB8TANT   REPORMATtON  IN    IRELAND. 


107 


**  of  almost  the  whole  kingdom  in  this  war  and  union,  »• 
*<  we  therefore  declare  that  war,  openly  Catholic,  to  be 
^  lawful  and  just ;  in  which  war,  if  some  of  the  Catholics 
<<  be  found  to  proceed  out  of  some  particular  and  unjust 
"  title,  —  covetousness,  cruelty,  revenge,  or  hatred,  or  any ' 
*^  stuch  unlawful  private  intentions,  -»we  declare  them* 
<*  therein  grievously'  to  sin,  and  therefore  worthy  to  be- 
<'  punished  and  restrained  with  ecclesiastical  censures,  ify 
<<  advised  thereof,  they  do  not  amend. 

"  II.  Whereas  the  adversaries  do  spread  divers  ru- 
"  mors, -do  write  divers  letters,  and,  under  the  king's^ 
*'  name,  do  print  proclamations,  which  are  not  the  king's, 
<'  by  which  «ieans  divers  plots  and  dangers  may  ensue 
"  unto  our  nation  ;  we  therefore,  to  stop  the  way  of  un- 
<'  truth,  and  forgeries  of  political  adversaries,  do  will  and 
'<  command  that  no  such  rumors,*  letters,  or  proclama- 
''  tions  may  have  place  or  belief  until  it  be  known  in 
^'  a  national  conncil,  whether  they  truly  proceed  from 
<^  the  king,  left  to  his  own  freedom,  and  until  agents  of 
'<  this  kingdom,  hereafter  to  be  appointed  by  the  National 
"  Council,  have  free  passage  to  his  majesty,  whereby  the 
<'  kingdom  may  be  certainly  informed  of  his  majesty's 
"  intention  and  will. 

"  *  III.  We  straightly  command  all  our  inferiors,  a» 
"  well  churchmen  as  laymen,  to  make  no  alienation, 
"  comparison,  or  difference  between  provinces,  cities, 
"  towns,  or  families  ;  and  lastly,  not  to  begin  or  forward 
"  any  emulations  or  comparisons  whatsoever. 

"  *  IV.  That  in  every  province  of  Ireland  there  be  a 
''  council  made  up,  both  of  clergy  and  nobility,  in  which 
''  council  shall  be  so  many  persons,  at  least,  as  are  coun- 
"  ties  in  the  province,  and  out  of  every  city  or  notable 
"  town  two  persons. 

"  *  V.  Let  one  general  council  of  the  whole. kingdom 
'•''  be  made,  both  of  the  clergy,  nobility,  cities,  and  nota- 
"  ble  towns,  in  which  council  there  shall  be  three  out  of 
"  every  province,  and  out  of  every  city  one ;  or  where 
"  cities  are  not,  out  of  the  chiefest  towns.  To  this 
"  conncil  the  provincial  councils  shall  have  subordl* 
'^  nation>  and  from  thence  to  it  may  be  appealed,  until 


» ■ 


r* 


F;:; 


1  .iji- 


108 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH   THB 


I 
B1 


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Wmi'vl 


**  this  National  council  shall  have  opportunity  to  sit 
**  together. 

"  *  VI.  Let  a  faithful  inventory  be  made,  in  every 
*^  province,  of  the  murders,  burnings,  and  other  cruelties 
*  **  which  are  permitted  by  the  Puritan  enemies,  with  a 
**  quotation  of  the  place,  day,  cause,  manner,  and  per- 
**  sons,  and  other  circumstances,  subscribed  by  one  of 
"  public  authority.  .        , 

"  *  VII.  We  do  declare  and  judge  all  and  every 
'<  such  as  do  forsake  this  union,  fight  for  our  enemies, 
"  accompany  them  in  their  war,  defend  or'  in  any  way 
**  assist  them,  to  be  excommunicated,  and  by  these 
**  presents  do  excommunicate  them.  • 

"  *  VIII.  We  will  and  declare  all  those  that  murder, 
"  dismember,  or  grievously  strike,  all  thieves,  unlawful 
"  spoilers,  robbers  of  any  goods,  to  be  excommunicated, 
"  and  so  to  remain  till  they  completely  amend  and  ^t- 
**  isfy,  no  less  than  if  they  were  namely  proclaimed  ex- 
"  communicated.' "  ' 

Before  admission  into  this  confederacy,  the  following 
oath  was  prescribed  to  be  publicly  taken  on  th6  holy 
evangelists,  before  the  altar  of  a  church  :  — 

"  *  I,  A.  B.,  do  profess,  swear,  and  protest  before  God 
**  and  his  saints  and  angels,  that  I  will,  during  my  life, 
"  bear  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  my  sovereign  lord, 
"  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Great  Britain, 
"  France,  and  Ireland,  and  to  his  heirs  and  lawful  succes- 
"  sors ;  and  that  I  will,  to  my  power,  during  my  life,  de- 
**  fend,  uphold,  and  maintain,  all  his  and  their  just  pre- 
"  rogatives,  estates,  and  rights,  the  power  and  privilege  of 
**  the  Parliament  of  this  realm,  the  fundamental  laws  of 
"  Ireland,  the  free  exercise  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  and 
X  <<  religion  throughout  this  land,  and  the  lives,  just  liberties, 
<*  possessions,  estates,  and  rights  of  all  those  that  have 
"  taken,  or  that  shall  take,  this  oath,  and  perform  the  con- 
"  tents  thereof ;  and  that  I  will  obey  and  ratify  all  the 
"  orders  and  decrees  made,  and  to  be  made,  by  the  su- 
"  preme  Council  of  the  Confederate  Catholics  of  this 
"  kingdom,  concerning  the  said  public  cause ;  and  I  will 
<*  not  seek,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  pardon  or  protec- 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


109 


(<  tion  for  any  act  done,  or  to  be  done,  touching  this 
**  general  cause,  without  the  consent  of  the  major  part  of 
^  the  said  council ;  and  that  I  will  not,  directly  or  indi- 
*<  rectly,  do  any  act  or  acts  that  shall  prejudice  the  said 
<<  cause,  but  will,  to  the  hazard  of  my  life  and  estate, 
"  assist,  prosecute,  and  maintain  the  same. 

"  <  Moreover,  I  do  further  swear,  that  I  will  not  accept 
"  of  or  submit  unto  any  peace,  made,  or  to.  be  made, 
"  with  the  said  Confederate  Catholics,  without  the  con- 
<'  sent  and  approbation  of  the  general  assembly  of  the 
"  said  Confederate  Catholics,  and  for  the  preservation 
"  and  strengthening  of  the  ai^sociation  and  union  of  the 
<<  kingdom.  *  That  upon  any  peace  or  accommodation  to 
*'  be  made  or  concluded  with  the  said  Confederate  Cath- 
<*  dies,  as  aforesaid,  I  will,  to  the  utmost  of  my  power, 
<'  insist  upon  and  maintain  the  ensuing  propositions, 
''  until  a  peace,  as  aforesaid,  be  made,  and  the  matters 
<'  to  be  agreed  upon  in  the  articles  of  peace  be  estab- 
"  lished  and  secured  by  Parliament.  So  help  me  God, 
"  and  his  holy  gospel.' " 

To  cover  the  assembling  and  sitting  of  this  council, 
the  Leinster  confederates,  so  far  as  armed,  under  Mount- 
garrett  and  O' Moore,  had  formed  their  camp  in  Kildare, 
between  Dublin  and  Kilkenny.  On  the  15th  of  April, 
they  were  attacked  and  defeated,  near  the  town  of  Athy, 
by  the  English  forces  under  Lord  Ormond.*  Sir  Morgan 
Cavanagh,  one  of  the  leading  confederates,  was  slain, 
and  his  head  carried  to  Dublin,  where  it  was  impaled. 
0' Moore  fell  back  on  his  own  district,  and  Mountgarrett 
on  his,  to  recruit  a  stronger  force.  From  this  day,  Roger 
O'Mdore  disappears  from  the  scene,  and  we  hear  of  him 
next  as  dying  at  Kilkenny,  during  the  ensuing  winter.f 

Nothing  discouraged,  the  council  called  a  general  as- 
sembly of  the  Catholics  of  the  kingdom  for  the  follow- 

*  This  aifair  is  sometimes  called  the  **  battle  of  Kilrush,"  and  some- 
times the  •*  battle  of  Blackball  Heath." 

t  Carte's  Life  of  Ormond.  The  statement  in  McNevin's  Confiscaticm 
of  Ulster,  that  he  retired  to  the  Fews  in  Armagh,  and  ended  his  days 
in  peace,  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  must  be  an  error.  Cromwell  and 
Ormond  never  could  tolerate  such  a  man. 

10 


■■iv^ 


/^■. 


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t   a 


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ATTEMPTS   TO  EBT^BLISa  THB 


V  -4 


n 


'4\ : 


y\ 


ing  23d  of  October,  the  anniversary  of  Sir  Phelim 
O'Neil's  rising,  and  despatched  agents  to  France,  Spain, 
and  Rome,  to  procure  experienced  officers,  arms,  and 
alliance*  During  the  spring  and  summer,  the  risin)^  pro- 
ceeded with  great  spirit.  Limerick  was  taken  by  the 
confederates,  dnder  Lord  Muskerry  and  General  Barry ; 
Galway  was  seized  on  by  the  young  men  of  the  city, 
who,  having  captured  an  English  ship,  laden  with  arms, 
then  in  port,  shut  the  gates,  entered  a  church,  and  took 
the  oath  of  confederation ;  Liscarroll,  one  of  the  strongest 
places  in  Munster,  was  taken,  after  a  siege  of  thirteen 
days ;  only  Cork  and  Youghal,  of  the  southern  towns, 
remained  with  the  English.  The  garrison  of  Dublin, 
reenforced  by  a  thousand  horse,  under  Lord  Lisle,  had 
taken  Trim,  and  relieved  Birr  -and  some  other  forts  in 
Kildare,  and  Queen's  counties.  Lord  Leven  had  reen- 
forced Munroe,  in  Ulster,  and  their  joint  forces  amoun^^d 
to  10,000  men ;  but  they  did  not  move  from  their 'gar- 
rison. The  campaign  of  1642  was,  on  the  whole,  un- 
favorable to  the  Puritan  cause,  although  no  national 
trial  of  strength  had  yet  taken  place. 

In  the  summer  of  1642,  the  distinguished  Irish  gen- 
eral Owen  Roe  O'Neil,  leaving  the  Spanish  service,  in 
which  he  had  won  an  enviable  reputation  by  his  defence 
of  Arras  and  other  exploits,  arrived  at  Doo  Castle,  on  the 
Mayo  coast,  and  proceeded  to  Leitrim.  Sir  Phellm's  insur- 
l^ction  had,  by  this  time,  begun  to  flag,  and  confidence 
in  his  military  capacity  was  much  shaken.  A  graduate 
of  the  King's  Inns,  his  purely  legal  education  did  not 
well  suit  him  for  military  life.  Owen  gathered  the  frag- 
ments of  his  cousin's  army,  and  in  the  fastnesses  of  Lei- 
trim, "  nursed  them  "  into  discipline.  He  fixed  his  head- 
quarters at  Charlemont,  and  was  cheerfully  recognized 
as  general-iurchief  of  the  northern  confederates.  A  wiser 
choice  could  not  have  been  made.  He  was  every  way 
worthy  of  the  old  sword  of  Hugh  O'Neil,  which  he 
carried.  Young  Preston,  of  Gormanstown,  who  had 
served  with  some  distinction  in  France,  and  in  defence 
of  Lpuvain,  returned  at  the  same  time,  and  was  made 
generalxin-chief  of  the  Lteinster  confederateg ;  Richard 


in 


PROTSSTANT   REFORMATION   IN    ISBLAND.  HI 

OTdrrdllv  Oliver  Synnott,  and  other  Catholic  officen 
from  abroad,  also  arrivsd  and  took  service. 

Muskerry  and  Barry  commanded  in  the  south,  and 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Burke  and  the  three  Tei^  O'Kelleys 
headed  the  confederates  in  Connaught  The  confed- 
eracy mieht  now  be  considered  compfete. 

Our  concern  is  rather  with  the  policy  of  this  holy 
war  than  with  the  military  men  or  battles.  These  we 
leave  to  the  national  writers,  while  we  proceed  to  ex- 
plain the  designs  and  objects  of  the  dignified  assem- 
bly, which,  at  the  call  of  the  hierarchy,  met  at  Kilkenny, 
in  October,  1642. 

The'  Puritan  lords  justices  Parsons  and  Borlase  con- 
tinued to  act  under  sanction  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
against  the  Catholics;  under  them,  Ormond  commanded 
in  Leinster,  the  Earl  of  Cork  in  Munster,  Clanrickarde 
in  the  west,  and  Munroe  in  the  north.  Their  express 
orders  in  council  were  "  to  spare  no  Irishman."  In  Eng- 
land, the  civil  war  had  begun,  and  the  parliamcntarain 
party,  under  Essex,  were  ordered  to  besiege  the  king  in 
Nottingham. 

The  <^  general  assembly  "  at  Kilkenny  was  composed 
of  11  bishops,  14  temporal  peers,  and  226  duly  elected 
commoners.  The  extensive  mansion  of  Sir  Robert  Shea, 
near  the  market-place,  was  their  Senate,  where,  after 
hearing  mass  at  the  cathedral,  they  gathered  for  consul- 
tation.^ Peers,  bishops,  and  commoners  sat  in  one  cham- 
ber, the  dining  hall  of  the  mansion.  Patrick  Darcy,  the 
most  eminent  Catholic  lawyer  of  the  time,  acted  as  chan- 
cellor; Nicholas  Plunkett  was  speaker;  Cusack,  attorney 
general;  and  Father  Thomas  O'Quirke,  of  the  Domin- 
ican convent  at  Tra'lee,  was  chaplain.  This  assembly 
resolved  that  their  office  was  <<  to  conault  of  an  order  for 
their  own  affairs  till  bis  majesty's  wisdom  had  settled  the 
present  troubles."  They  then  spent  a  week  enrolling  con- 
federates. After  that,  a  committee  to  draw  up  a  form 
of  provisional  government  was  chosen,  of  which  Lords 

-  ■■'-■I     —  It ^-'— — -■^-i--'"—  ---- — — ^  ■   "* —  .■.■■-  ..■—«-.. — ^,..— ^^.— 

*  In  1817,  the  prMent  writer,  in  company  with  Mr.  Gavan  Dufiy  and 
Dr.  Cane,  of  Kilkenny,  yiaited  thi«  fin*  old  hoilding,  which  yet  standi. 


112 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


€k)rmanstown  and  Casilehaven,  Sir  Phelim  0*Neil)  and 
Patrick  Darcy  were  members.  They  reported  the  fol- 
lowing project  of  law :  — 

"  *  Magna  Charta  and  the  common  and  statute  laws  of 

"  England,  in  all  points  not  contrary  to  the  Roman 

**  Catholic  religion,  or  inconsistent  with  the  liberty  of 

<<  Ireland,  were  acknowledged  as  the  basis  of  the  new 

-"  government. 

"  *  They  resolved  that  each  county  should  have  its 
*^  council,  consisting  of  one  or  two  deputies  out  of  each 
**  barony,  and  where  there  was  no  barony,  of  twelve 
"  persons  elected  by  the  county  in  general,  with  powers 
<*  to  adjudicate  on  all  matters  cognizable  by  justices  of 
**  the  peace,  pleas  of  the  crown,  suits  for  debts,  and  per- 
*<  sonal  actions,  and  to  restore  possessions  usurped  since 
*^  the  war ;  to  name  all  the  county  officers,  saving  the 
*^  high  sherriff,  who  Was  to  be  elected  by  the  sopreWie 
<<  council,  out  of  three  whom  the  council  of  the  county 
*<  were  to  recommend.  From  these  there  was  an  appeal 
*^  to  the  provincial  councils,  which  were  to  consist  of 
"  two  deputies  out  of  each  county,  and  were  to  meet 
*<  four  times  a  year,  or  oftener,  if  there  was  occasion,  to 
<<  examine  the  decisions  of  the  county  councils,  to  decide 
**  all  suits  like  judges  of  assize,  to  establish  recent  pos- 
*^  sessions,  but  not  to  interfere  with  ^ther  suits  about 
"  lands  except  in  cases  of  dower.* 

"  *  From  these  there  lay  a  further  appeal  to  the  supreme 
"  council,  of  twenty-four  persons,  who  were  to  be  elected 
"  by  the  general  assembly,  of  which  twelve  were  to  be 
**  constantly  resident  in  Kilkenny,  or  wherever  else  they 
"  should  judge  it  to  be  most  expedient,  with  equal  voices, 
"  but  two  thirds  to  conclude  the  rest ;  never  fewer  than 
<*  nine  to  sit  in  council,  and  seven  to  concur  in  the  same 
"  opinion :  out  of  these  twenty-four  a  president  was  to 
**  be  named  by  the  assembly,  and  was  to  be  always  one 
"  of  the  twelve  resident,  and,  in  case  of  deatih  or  any 
*<  other  serious  impediment,  the  other  residents  out  of 
"  twenty-four  were  to  select  a  president' 

•  Carte's  Ormond. 


^k 


m 


1 1 


.1'-' 


PROTBtTANT  BBFOBMATION    IN   ISBLAND. 


113 


**  It  was  also  enacted,  ^  That  the  connoH  shonkl  be 
«  vested  with  power  over  all  generals,  military  officers, 
"  and  civil  magistrates,  who  were  to  obey  their  orders, 
'<  and  send  an  account  duly  of  their  actions  and  pro« 
'<  ceedings ;  to  determine  all  matters  left  undecided  bv 
"  the  general  assembly.  Their  acts  to  be  of  force  till 
<'  rescinded  by  the  next  assembly ;  to  command  and 
''  punish  all  commenders  of  forces,  magistrates,  and  all 
"  others  of  what  rank  and  condition  soever ;  to  hear  and 
<<  judffe  all  capital  and  criminal  causes,  (saving  titles  to 
"  lands,)  and  to  do  all  kinds  of  acts  for  promoting  the 
^'  common  cause  of  the  confederacy  and  the  good  of  the 
''  kingdom,  and  relating  to  the  support  and  management 
"  of  the  war* 

<<  And  as  the  administrative  authority  was  to  be  vested 
"  in  the  supreme  council,  it  was  decreed  that,  at  the  end 
*'  of  ever^  general  assembly,  the  supreme  council  should 
^  be  connrmed  or  changed,  as  the  general  body  thought 
"fit." 

They  then  proceeded  to  elect  their  supreme  council,  con- 
sisting of  the  three  archbishops,  (Cashelwas  at  the  time 
vacant,)  the  Bishops  of  Down  and  Clonfert,  and  23  lay- 
men, -half  Milesians,  half  Normans.  They  adopted  as 
a  seal  a  great  cross  resting  on  a  flaming  heart,  and 
crowned  with  the  wings  of  a  dove,  on  the  left  the  harp, 
on  the  right  the  cVown.  The  motto  was,  "iVo  Deo, 
Rege,  et  Patria,  Hiberni  Unanimes.^^  ^he  provincial  com- 
manders were  formally  reappointed,  and  each  county 
assessed  for  men  and  money,  according^  to  its  meaiis. 
A  mint  was  established,  and  copper  and  silver  coins  were 
stracky  They  issued  letters  of  marque,  and  equipped 
several  light  ships  under  their  own  flag,  which  were 
commanded  by  Oliver  Synnott,  Francis  Oliver,  and 
others.  An  official  press  was  established,  which  worked 
night  and  day  on  pamphlets  and  proclamations. 

The  legislation  of  this  assembly  was  equally  judicious. 
They  enacted  that  all  duties  on  grain  and  corn  coming 
into  Irish  ports  should  be  suspended;  they  abolished 

*  Cox ;  Carte's  Ormond. 

10* 


i 


*    !    I 
i'll 


I    .M 


114 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH   TfiB 


y 


ii":,     !li.  ■  "ill 
^'^    tv      ill 


duties  on  imported  iron,  arms,  and  ammunition ;  they 
guarantied  '*the  liberties  and  privileges  of  free  denizens 
to  all  ship  builders  and  masters "  who  would  settle  in 
the  kingdom.  They  decreed  the  restoration  of  all  church 
property  "  as  fully  as  held  by  the  Protestant  clergy  on 
the  1st  of  October,"  but  reserved  to  the  laity  "their 
rights  by  the  laws  of  the  land ; "  they,  moreover,  fixed  a^ 
percentage  to  be  paid  to  the  treasury  by  the  restored 
property  during  the  continuance  of  the  war.  Lastly, 
they  appointed  and  authorized  foreign  agents,  or  ambas* 
sadors,  and  so  adjourned  early  in  January,  to  meet  again 
in  May.* 

The  Catholic  courts  received  their  agents  with  cordial- 
ity. Father  Luice  Wadding  procured,  at  Rome,  26,000 
dollars,  2000  muskets,  the  appointment  of  a  nuncio  to 
Ireland,  and  the  Papal  benediction  for  the  war.  Father 
Peter  Talbot  procured,  at  Madrid,  20,000  dollars,  an|^  at 
Paris,  "two  great  guns,  casting  balls  of  24  pounds' 
weight."  In  addition  to  these  gifts,  many  Spanish  and 
French  officers  volunteered,  some  of  whom,  no  doubt, 
had  diplomatic  directions  from  Olivarez  and  Richelieu. 
'  After  the  adjournment,  the  supreme  council  proceeded 
on  a  progress  through  the  south,  accompanied  by  a 
guard  of  500  foot  and  200  horse.  In  Wexford,  Water- 
ford,  Tipperary,  Cork,  and  Limerick,  they  healed  local 
dissensions,  and  enrolled  confederates.  Their  progress 
had  all  the  appearance  and  effect  of  a  royal  visit.  In 
the  spring,  Rreston  and  Barry  felt  its  good  effects  in  re- 
cruits and  new  munitions. 

The  European  governments  had  not  been  insensible 
to  the  state  of  Ireland.  In  the  spring  of  1643,  M.  La 
Monaire  represented  France,  M.  Fuysot  Spain,  M.  Over- 
mere  Holland,  and  Father  Scarampi  represented  Rome, 
at  Kilkenny.  Kilkenny  was  then,  defactOy  a  capital. 
I.  I — ' 

*  Before  separatmg,^hey  promulgated  this  formal  declaration  of  their 
independence :  '*  It  is  hereby  decuired  that  no  temporal  government  or 
jurisdiction  shall  be  assumed,  kept,  or  exercised  in  this  kingdom,  or 
-within  any  county  or  province  thereof,  during  these  troubles^  other  than 
is  before  expresseid,  except  such  jiurisdiction  or  government  as  is,  or  shall 
be,  approved  by  the  general  assembly,  or  supreme  council  of  the  con- 
federate  Catholics  of  ueland."  The  shadow  of  a  '<  Long  Parliament," 
sitting  in  Dublin,  is  particularly  aimed  at  in  this  declaration. 


!  m 


PR0TK8TANT   RIFORMATION   IN   IRBLAND. 


115 


Every  thiiiK  looked  well  for  the  Catholic  cause.  In 
the  north,  O'Neil  had  taken  Charlemont,  and,  though 
checked  at  Clonish,  had  advanced  to  victory  at  Portles- 
ter;  in  the  west,  Willoughby  had  surrendered  Gkdway 
and  Oranmore  to  Burke;  in  the  south,  Vavasor  had 
surrendered  to  Castlehaven ;  and  in  Leinster,  Preston's 
troops  invested  Dublin,  where  the  forces  with  Ormond 
and  Monk  were  pining  for  lack  of  provisions. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  artful  and  nnscrupnions 
diplomacy  of  Ormond  rescued  the  cause  of  I^otestantism 
from  its  jeopardy.  In  Dublin,  he  placed  the  justices 
Borlase  and  Parsons  under  arrest,  while  he  was  secretly 
in  alliance  with  Munroe,  the  Covenanter  general,  at  Car- 
rickfergus.  Simultaneous  proposals  to  unite  the  royal 
and  Catholic  forces  were  presented  at  Kilkenny.  Thus 
Ormond  kept  two  doors  open,  and  stood  between  them, 
"speaking,  with  a  double  tongue,  contradictory  lan- 
guages." 

The  Catholics  were  divided  as  to  a  junction  with  the 
royal  forces;  the  majority  of  the  supreme  council,  how-, 
ever,  favored  it,  and  nine  commissioners  were  appointed 
to  meet  Ormond.  In  November,  a  year's  truce  was  con- 
cluded at  Sigginstown,  in  Kildare,  which  was  renewed 
in  1644,  for  another  year,  and  terminated  only  in  1645, 
by  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  new  nuncio,  Kinuncini, 
Archbishop  of  Fermo. 

O'Neil,  with  a  firm  minority,  had  opposed  the  peace 
from  the  first.  He  and  his  friends  believed  that  Ireland 
could  stand  best  unencumbered  with  any  foreign  royalty. 
When  it  was  asked  if  they  would  consent  to  invite  over 
a  continental  prince,  he  distinctly  declared  himself  op- 
posed to  giving  any  foreign  power  "  an  interest  in  Ire- 
land." After  the  first  truce,  he  was  accused  of  interested 
ulterior  motives,  and  Castlehaven  was  appointed  over  his 
head  to  the  command  of  the  north.  Still  he  did  not  de- 
sert  the  army,  but  continued  to  serve  in  a  subordinate 
position,  though  the  troops  he  raised,  according  to  Cas- 
tlehaven, were  "  like  men  half  changed."  In  1645,  he 
Was  not  only  restored  to  his  former  rank,  but  the  com- 
mand in  chief  of  Connaught  was  added.     His  forces 


116 


ATTEMPTS   TO  BBTABLISK  TBI 


i 


I 


IIH' 


W' 


'  f 'hi!''''  .■ 


^11 


>    ^1 


il  ■ 


were  then  dignified  with  the  title  of  the  <*  Catholic  army/' 
and  he  quartered  the  cro»8  and  keys  with  the  red  hand 
of  Ulster  on  his  banner. 

The  royal  cause  derived  from  this  two  years'  trace 
3000  men,  with  2400  pounds  of  powder,  forwarded  under 
Alexander  McDonald,  Marquis  of  Antrim,  (called  "  Col- 
kitto,"  or  the  left-handed,)  to  the  succor  of  the  Marquis 
of  Idontrose;  £30,000  in  money,  paid  to  the  king  at 
Oxford ;  the  possession  of  Dublm,  Kilkenny  and  other 
Irish  towns  for  the  king,  and  the  consequent  strength- 
ening  of  his  cause.  A^en,  ho ..  jver,  after  two  years  of 
delusive  diplomacy  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  generous 
*  confidence  on  the  other,  the  Catholics  resolved  to  termi- 
nate a  truce  by  which  they  lost  their  means  and  forces 
without  receiving  any  return,  Ormond  renewed  his 
secret  negotiations  with  the  Puritans;  his  son  and  two 
others  of  his  adherents  went  over  to  the  Parliament, 
and  in  November,  1646,  finding  himself  hard  pressed 
again  in  Dublin,  by  O'Ncil  and  Preston,  he  surrendered 
that  city  and  Drogheda  to  the  Puritan  fleet,  and  passed 
over  to  Holland,  leaving  his  marchioness,  sons,  and 
estates  under  the  protection  of  his  new  allies. 

General  O'Neil,  with  his  Catholic  army^  met  the  Cov- 
enantors under  Munroe,  at  Benburb.  They  were  ten 
thousand  strong,  of  whom  three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  forty-three  were  killed  upon  the  spot.  All  their 
tents,  stores,  guns,  and  fifteen  hundred  draught  horses 
were  captured.  Their  colors  were  forwarded  to  the 
Papal  nuncio,  and  ,by  him  sent  to  Rome,  where  a  Te 
Deum  was  sung  for  the  happy  issue  of  that  day  — June 
4,  1646.  It  was  from  Benburb  that  O'Neil  advanced 
t^  way  of  MuUingar,  (which  he  retook,)  to  support 
mston,  before  Dublin. 

Another  royal  treaty  was  now  proposed  at  Kilkenny, 
the  negotiator  being  the  Earl  of  Glamorgan,  son  of  the 
Marquis  of  Worcester.  This  proposal  came  directly 
from  the  king,  and  contained  thirty  articles;  the  chief 
are  the  first  fifteen  which  follow :  —  ^ 

1.  ^'  That  the  professors  of  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
^'^  gion  in  the  kingdom' of  Ireland,  or  any  of  them,  be  not 


PROTUTANT   BEPORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


117 


»» 


**  bound  or  obliged  to  take  tho  oath  of  rapreroacy, 
'<  expressed  in  the  second  of  Q,ui«'n  Elizabeth,  com- 
'^  monly  called  the  oath  of  supremacy." 

2.  >*  That  a  Parliament  may  be  held  on  or  before  the 
"last  day  of  November  next;  and  that  these  articles 
<*  agreed  on  may  be  transmitted  iotu  Englaiul,  according 
"to  the  usual  form,  and  passed,  provided  that  nothing 
"  may  be  biased  to  the  prejudice  of  either  Protestant  or 
"  Catholic  party,  other  than  such  things  as  upon  this 
"  treaty  shall  be  concluded." 

3.  '*  That  all  acts  made  by  both  or  either  house  of 
"  Parliament,  to  the  blemish  or  prejudice  of  his  majesty's 
"  Roman  Catholic  subjects,  since  the  7th  of  August, 
"  1641,  shall  be  vacated  by  acts  of  Parliament" 

4.  "  That  no  action  of  law  shall  be  removed  before 
"  the  said  Parliament,  in  case  it  be  sooner  called  than 
"  the  last  of  November ;  and  that  all  impediments  which 
"  may  hinder  the  Roman  Catholics  to  sit  in  the  next 
"  Parliament  shall  be  removed  before  the  Parliament 
«  sit" 

5.  "  That  all  debts  do  stand  in  state,  as  they  were  in 
"  the  beginning  of  these  troubles." 

6.  "  That  the  plantations  in  Connaught,  Kilkenny, 
"  Clare,  Thomond,  Tipperary,  Limerick,  and  Wicklow 
"  may  be  revoked  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  their  estates 
"  secured  in  the  next  sessions." 

7.  "  That  the  natives  may  erect  one  or  more  inns  of 
"  court  in  or  near  the  city  of  Dublin,  they  taking  an 
"  oath ;  as  also  one  or  more  universities,  to  be  governed 
"  as  his  majesty  shall  appoint ;  as  also  to  have  schools 
"  for  education  of  youth  in  the  kingdom." 

8.  "  That  places  of  command,  of  forts,  castles,  garri- 
"  sons,  towns,  and  other  places  of  importance,  and  all 
"places  of  honor,  profit,  and  trust,  shall  be  conferred  with 
"  equal  indifferency  upon  the  Catholics,  as  his  majesty's 
"  other  subjects,  according  to  their  respective  merits 
"  and  abilities."  >  '  - 

9.  "  That  X12,000  sterling  be  paid  the  king  yearly 
"  for  the  court  of  wards." 

10.  <*  That  no  peer  may  be  capable  of  more  proxiei 


.f***** 


!■» 


118 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


"  than  two ;  and  that  no  lords  vote  -in  Parliament, 
<*  unless,  in  five  years,  a  lord  baron  purchase  in  Ireland 
"  ^200  per  annum,  a  viscount  £400,  and  an  earl  .£600, 
"  or  lose  their  votes  till  they  purchase." 

11.  "  That  the  independency  of  the  Parliament  of 
**  Ireland  on  the  kingdom  of  England  shall  be  decided 
**  by  declaration  of  both  houses,  agreeable  to  the  laws  of 
**  the  kingdom  of  Ireland." 

12.  "  That  the  council  table  shall  contain  itself  within 
**  its  bounds  ih  handling  matters  of  state,  as  patent  of 
**  plantations,  offices,  &c.,  and  not  meddle  with  matter 
"  betwixt  party  and  party." 

13.  "  That  all  acts  concerning  staple  or  native  com- 
<<  modities  of  this  kingdom  shall  be  repealed,  except 
*^  wooU  and  woollfels ;  and  that  the  commissioners,  the 
"  Lord  Mountgarret,  named  in  the  twenty-sixth  article, 
**  shall  be  authorized,  under  the  great  seal,  to  moderate 
**  and  ascertain  the  rates  of  merchandise  to  be  exported 
"  and  imported." 

14.  "  That  no  governor  be  longer  resident  than  his 
**  majesty  shall  find  for  the  good  of  his  people,  and  that 
"  they  make  no  purchase  other  than  by  lease,  for  the 
"  provision  of  their  houses." 

15.  "  That  an  act  of  oblivion  may  be  passed,  with- 
**  out  extending  to  any  who  will  not  accept  of  this 
"  peace." 

This  explicit  concession  of  every  Catholic  demand 
would  have  been  quite  satisfactory,  if  the  king  retained 
the  power  to  put  it  into  operation.  But  his  was  already 
a  doubtful  cause.  He  required  ten  thousand  men  from 
Ireland  —  a  requisition  which,  -when  it  was  known, 
injured  him  still  f'j.riher  in  England.  The  Scottish 
loyalists  were  falling  off  from  him,  at  Newcastle,  while 
the  Parliament  were  apparently  negotiating,  but  actu- 
ally preparing  to  push  him  to  extremities.  Yet,  withal, 
an  influential  party  at  Kilkenny — though  a  minority  this 
time  —  favored  the  new  treaty.  The  bishops  proved 
themselves  the  best  statesmen,  by  their  decided  opposi- 
tion to  it;  O'Neil,  as  usual,  acted  with  them.  Neither 
party  yielding,  a  division    ensued,  which  was    never 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


119 


com- 


healed.*  The  anti-peace  party  removed  their  council 
to  Waterford,  whence  the  nuncio  issued  his  excom- 
munication against  all  foresworn  confederates  who 
should  accept  the  peace.  From  Waterford,  the  bishops 
removed  to  Jamestown,  in  Roscommon,  and  finally  to 
Gkdway.  Rinuncini  parted  with  tears  from  O'Neil, 
at  Maryborough,  and  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  had 
the  additional  affliction  of  being  coldly  received  by  the 
new  pope. 

O'Neil,  thus  left  almost  alone,  was  not  unequal  to 
the  position.  He  was  somewhal  beyond  middle  age, 
pious,  skilful,  eloquent,  and  brave.  Beloved  by  his  men, 
and  entirely  confided  in  by  the  Council  of  Bishops,  he 
took,  firom  time  to  time,  such  measures  as  the  new  state 
of  afiairs  required.  In  1647  and  1648,  he  occupied 
positions  covering  the  north-west  and  the  valley  of  the 
Shannon,  thus  protecting  the  council  in  its  western 
retreat.  His  successes  won  new  help  firom  abroad.  Pope 
Innocent  and  Cardinal  Mazarin  sent  supplies ;  the  new 
Spanish  envoy,  De  la  Torre,  advanced  ^9000,  and  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine  ^£5000.  In  1649,  we  find  O'Neil  at 
Tandaragee,  with  ten  thousand  foot  and  twenty-one 
troops  of  horse.  That  summer  he  had  a  truce  with 
Monk  and  Coote,  probably  to  give  time  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land ;  in  October,  it  expired,  and  Cromwell 
having  arrived  at  Dublin  the  previous  month,  Owen 
agrees  to  an  alliance  with  Ormond,  some  time  returned 
from  Holland,  and  at  the  head  of  ap  army,  in  Water- 
ford.  Lieutenant  General  O'Farrell,  with  three  thousand 
men,  was  despatched  to  reenforce  the  marquis  in  conse- 
quence of  this  coalition. 

O'Neil  prepared  to  follow,  and  forming  a  junction 
with  Ormond,  to  give  battle  to  Cromwell.  He  moved 
through  Monaghan  and  Tyrone,  in  great  bodily  pain, 
from  an  issue  of  blood,  probably  caused  by  some  old 
wound.     Carried  in  a  litter,  he  gave  his  orders,  and 


*  The  fable  of  the,  **  Kilkenny  cats,"  who  devoured  each  other,  leav- 
ing but  the  tails  behind,  is  supposed  to  have  originated  with^seme  Me- 
nenins  of  those  days. 


t 


120 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


II 


k 


^stened  his  troops.  "  A  pair  of  russet  leather  boots," 
supposed  to  be  poisoned,*  were  given  him  on  the  way, 
and  are  traditionally  believed  to  be  the  occasion  of  his 
death.  Standing  as  a  sentinel  on  the  pleasant  borders 
of  Meath  and  Cavan,  Lough  Oughter  Castle  received 
the  dying  soldier.  On  the  6th  of  November,  1649,  he 
breathed  his  last,  leaving  the  faithful  '^  Catholic  army  " 

*'  Like  sheep  without  a  shepherd  when  the  snow  shuts  out  the  sky." 

4 

Very  few  names  in  any  history  are  more  worthy  of 
our  honorable  and  pious  remembrance.f 

The  last  effoj^i.  made  to  maintain  the  Catholic  contest 
in  this  generation  was  by  Bishop  French,  and  the  three 
cities,  Clonmel,  Limerick,  and  Galway.  Of  these  we 
will  have  to  speak  farther  on. 

The  nuncio,  Rinuncini,  somewhat  censured  at  Rome, 
retired  to  his  palace  at  Fermo,  and  adorned  its  TJ^alls 
with  cartoons  of  the  confederate  war.  Luke  Wadding 
did  not  live  to  hear  the  sorrowful  end  of  his  efforts. 
After  declining  the  well-deserved  dignity  of  cardinal,  he 
died  a  Friar  Minor,  in  1657,  and  was  buried  near  Hugh 
O'Neil,  on  St.  Peter's  Mount 

The  Protestant  side  of  this  narrative  is  now  in  turn. 

We  have  seen  the  Presbyterians  in  Ireland  in  1610, 
and  the  Puritans  in  1640.  The  solemn  league  and 
covenant  fused  and  held  them  together,  in  all  Irish 
enterprises,  whatever  differences  might  arise  between 
them  in  England^or  Scotland. 

In  the  beginning  they  had  the  king  on  their  side ;  for 
nearly  twenty  years,  the  Bnglish  Parliament  was  their 
willing  instrument.  This  gave  them  great  power,_an(l 
their  many  years'  possession  of  the  island  gave  them 
every  earthly  opportunity  to  implant  their  species  of 
reformation  all  over  the  defeated  country.  To  aid 
them,  the  early  Irish   Protestants,   Calvinists  in  creed. 


*  Carte's  Life  of  Ormond,'yol.  ii,  p.  83. 

t  Napoleon,  whose  chief  studjr  was  military  history,  thought  that, 
had  O'Xeil  lived,  he  would  have  overmatched  Cromwell.  Ttcb  Voice 
from  St.  Helena. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


121 


were  Episcopalians  only  in  form.  Usher's  articles  were 
condemned  by  King  James,  and  finally  rejected  by 
« the  Irish  Church,"  as  savoring  too  strongly  of  Calvin 
There  was  always  a  Presbyterian  l6aven  in  Bublin, 
though  it  was  not  till  the  Scotch  plantation  of  the  north 
that  there  came  to  be  a  sect  of  them,  nor  till  the  arrival 
of  General  Munroe  and  his  Covenanters,  in  1642,  that 
this  sect  was  formidable  enough  to  assume  the  offensive. 
Munroe's  defeat  diminished  their  pumbers  and  confi- 
dence, which  only  revived  with  the  landing  of  their 
English  brethren  under  Comwell. 

The  Puritanism  exhibited  in  Ireland  is  English,  rather 
than  Scotch,  and  military  rather  than  iminigrant.  The 
Scottish  Puritan  entered  the  field  with  the  spade,  his 
English  brother  entered  it  with  the  firelock ;-  the  Scot 
would  fight  for  his  fields  and  faith,  the  Saxon  for 
Oliver  and  the  spoils  of  Amalek.  The  one  was  in 
search  of  a  foreign  settlement  having  little  to  entice 
him  back  to  his  own  country  ;  the  Saxon  was  in 
search  of  plunder  with  which  he  intended  to  enrich  and 
enlarge  his  native  inheritance. 

The  history  of  both  sections  of  the  sect  illustrates  a 
different  mind. 

The  first  Puritan  chiefs  in  Ireland  were  the  defeated 
Munroe,  Sir  Charles  Coote,  (second  of  the  name,) 
Sir  Henry  Tichbourne,  and  Colonel  Jones,  to  whom 
Ormond  had  surrendered  Dublin.  All  but  the  first- 
named  officer  formed,  in  August,  1647,  a  junction  in 
Meath,  for  the  purpose  of  driving  the  Leinster  con- 
federate army  from  the  neighborhood  of  their  garrisons 
of  Drogheda  and  Dublin.  At  Dungan  Hill,  the  two 
armies  met,  and  the  Puritans  won  a  bloody  victory, 
Preston  and  Colkitto  McDonnell,  (the  ally  of  Montrose,) 
were  defeated,  and  five  thousand  four  hundred  and 
seventy  confederates  left  dead  upon  the  field.  Jones, 
after  his  vicJ;ory,  returned  to  Dublin,  where  he  found - 
large  supplies  from  the  Long  Parliament,  and  .£1000  to 
be  distributed  among  his  men,  as  a  reward  for  their 
valorous  conduct. 

Dublin,  at  this  time,  was  the  theatre  of  active  Puritan 
11 


122 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


;4s' 


teaching.  Stephen  Jerome  and  Hugh  Peters,  two 
"  preachers  of  the  word,"  vied  with  each  other  in  the 
violence  of  their  invectives  against  the  Catholics.  Their 
favorite  precedents  were  taken  from  the  wars  of  Joshua ; 
awful  were  their  imprecations  on  those  who  did  "the 
work  of  the  Lord  negligently."  These  apostles  of  Ex- 
termination accompanied  the  army,  and  sailed  in  the 
fleet  to  points  of  attack,  discoursing  of  Phineas,  and 
Agag,  and  Gideon  ;  their  texts  from  the  New  Testament 
being  confined  to  Antichrist,  Armageddon,  and  the 
seventh  seal.  From  the  pulpit  of  the  castle  chapel, 
Jerome  cursed,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  time- 
server  who  gave  quarter  to  any  son  of  Belial ;  in  the 
fleet  at  Gal  way  and  Kin  sale,  Peters  exhorted  the  fanat- 
ical Lord  Forbes  to  follow  the  example  of  the  captors 
of  Jericho  and  Hai,  by  "  killing  all  that  were  there, 
young  men  and  old,  children  and  maidens."  \ 

The  exhorters  of  this  school  were  quite  successful 
in  keeping  alive  the  merciless  dispositions  of  the  Par- 
liamentarians. Abubeker  and  Omar  did  not  more 
thoroughly  inspire  cruelty  into  their  followers  than  these 
Puritan  chaplains  into  their  attendants.  During  the 
years  1647  and  1648,  they  beat  the  iron  souls  of  men, 
already  fanatical  enough,  to  the  white  heat,  which, 
under  Cromwell's  eye,  wrought  such  devastations  the 
year  following. 

The  king  executed,  his  surviving  friends  in  exile, 
Scotland  subsidized  for  the  time,  there  remained  but 
one  work  for  Oliver  Cromwell  to  do,  to  entitle,  him  to 
the  sovereignty  he  aimed  at ;  and  this  work  was,  the 
utter  subjection  of  the  Irish  Catholics.  Accordingly,  he 
procured  from  the  Parliament  the  title  of  Lord  General 
and  Lord  Governor  of  Ireland,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
veterans  of  Naseby  and  Marston  Moor,  reached  Dublin, 
August  15,  1649.  Standing  up  bareheaded  in  his 
carriage,  he  promised  the  citizens,  as  he  entered,  an  early 
triumph  over  their  enemies.  Oliver  had  sworn  to  make 
short  work  of  it :  he  was  now  entered  on  his  fiftieth  year. 
The  long  self-denial  and  incessant  plots  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  had  at  last  placed  him  within  two  steps  of  abso- 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


123 


1  ^ 


late  jywer.  One  of  these  steps  was  the  conquest  of 
Ireland,  the  other  the  dissolution  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment, which  had  lately  constituted  itself  an  oligarchy. 
To  take  the  last  step  in  time,  Ireland  should  be  over- 
powered quickly.  A  murderous  despatch  in  the  Irish 
campaign,  he  knew,  would  strike  terror  into  the  English 
royalists,  and  give  a  revengeful  joy  to  men  of  the  Cov- 
enant. For  a  century  Ireland's  constancy  had  been 
England's  abhorrence,  while  Ireland's  valor  at  home  and 
credit  abroad,  had  of  late  alarmed  England's  passion 
for  supremacy. 

As  Catholics,  as  royalists,  as  a  rival  race,  it  was  safe  to 
slaughter  them.  Besides,  more  than  two  years'  absence 
from  England  might  permit  other  influences  to  take  root 
too  deeply.  It  was,  consequently,  no  heat  of  the  hour, 
no  retaliation  for  Irish  excessesj  but  a  deliberately  chosen 
policy  in  Cromwell,  to  doom  all  who  opposed  his  arms 
or  his  theology  in  Ireland  to  instantaneous  death.  In 
his  own '  closet,  or  in  the  cabin  of  his  ship,  amid  the 
waves  of  the  Channel,  this  Gothic  resolution  was  formed, 
not  upon  the  field,  nor  under  the  excitement  of  actual 
battle, 

Cromwell  brought  from  England  eight  thousand  foot, 
four  thousand  horse,  an  unusually  large  train  of  artil- 
lery, and  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  money.  The 
Puritan  army  previously  there  was  more  than  equal  in 
numbers  to  the  reenforcement.  Ireton,  Jones,  Ludlow, 
Coote,  Waller,  and  other  able  officers  served  under 
him,  and  the  majority  of  the  Long  Parliament  were  his 
obedient  servants.  His  plan  of  campaign  was  to 
strike  rapidly  with  his  whole  force  on  the  walled 
towns,  still  possessed  by  the  Catholics.  He  began  with 
Drogheda,  the  northern  town,  most  formidable  to  his 
party. 

Twice  repulsed  by  the  garrison  under  Colonels  Wall 
and  Byrne,  a  breach  was  at  last  effected,  quarter 
offered,  and  the  town  taken.  In  his  letter  to  the 
speaker  of  the  Parliament,  Oliver  writes,  "  We  refused 
them  quarter,  having  the  day  before  summoned  the 
town.     I   do   not  think    thirty  of  the  whole   escaped. 


P'.v       t'" 
■t.9  i, 


124 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


iv^  i 


and  those  that  did  are  in  safe  custody  for  the  ^arba- 
does."  • 

Marching  south,  Wexford  was  next  invested  and 
cannonaded.  By  the  treachery  of  a  Captain  Stafford, 
one  of  the  flankers  of  the  '  town  wall  was  yielded  at 
night  to  the  enemy.  The  brave  governor,  Colonel 
David  Synnott,  proposed  terms,  and  commissioners 
were  actually  exchanged,  when  Cromwell  entered  by 
Stafford's  connivance,,  and  slew  two  thousand  of  the 
soldiery  and  people.  The  women  of  the  town,  flying 
to  the  market  cross,  huddled  together  in  hope  of 
mercy:  but,  like  the  captors  of  Hai,  the  leader  of  the 
Puritans  spared  neither  "  children  nor  maidens."  Two 
barges  full  of  fugitives,  in  attempting  to  put  to  sea, 
sunk  in  the  harbor,  and  three  hundred  of  those  in 
them  were  drowned. 

"  This  town,"  writes  Cromwell  to  Speaker  Lent(iall,  , 
is  now  so  in  your  power,  that  of  the  former  inhabit- 
ants  I  believe  scarce  one  in  twenty  can  challenge 
any  property  in  their  own  houses.  Most  of  them  are 
run  away,  and  many  of  them  killed  in  the  service." 
Gallant  Wexford!  *      _ 

Waterford  made  a  gallant  defence,  and  during  Crom- 
well's  time  did  not  surrender.  Dungannon  Fort,  Passage, 
and  Ross  were,  however,  taken,  and  the  Puritans  pro- 
ceeded into  Munster. 

Clonmel,  Limerick,  and  Galway,  warned  by  the 
fugitives  from  Leinster  what  they  had  to  expect, 
made  memorable  resistance.  These  three  cities  held 
out  for  nearly  two  years  against  the  entire  force  which 
conquered  the  Cavaliers  in  a  campaign,  and  overran 
Scotland  in  six  months.  , 

In  the  winter  of  1649,  with  an  augmented  force, 
Oliver  invested  Clonmel,  defended  by  Hugh  O'Neil, 
nephew  of  Owen,  and  a  garrison  of  one  thousand  two 


*  In  the  same  ktter  he  states  the  Irish  garrison  at  three  thous:  tid.. 
so  that  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy  must  have  been  put 

ieath  at  Drogheda.  Cromwell's  Letters  and  Speeches,  edited  by 
('■■■  rlyle.    London,  1846. 


'  '1  li     ■■ 


§ 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


125 


hundred  men.  Neither  the  place  nor  its  works  was  of 
much  strength.  Yet  every  assault  on  it  failed.  In 
April,  1650,  the  garrison  began  to  starve  for  food. 
No  practical  attempt  was  made  by  Lord  Ormond,  now 
the  royalist  general-in-chief,  for  their  relief,  and  O^Neil, 
after  a  six  months  siege,  was  obliged  to  retreat.  Even 
from  the  fierce  and  bitter  Puritans,  the  defence  of 
Clonmel,  extorted  admiration.  They  declared,  "  that 
they  found  in  Clonmel  4he  stoutest  enemy  this  army 
had  ever  encountered  in  Ireland ;  and  that  there  was 
never  seen  so  hot  a  storm  of  so  lon^  continuance,  and 
so  gallafUly  defended  either  in  Wn^land  or  Ireland."  * 

O'Neil  retreated  skilfully,  bringing  all  his  men  with 
him,  and  safely  conducting  them  to  Limericic,  where  the 
inunicipality  at  once  chose  him  governor  of  that  old  city, 
so  memorable  in  this  and  another  similar  war*  In  July, 
Sir  Hardress  Waller,  at  the  head  of  a  Puritan  division, 
after  attempting  it  in  vain,  raised  the  siege.  Early  in 
1651,  Ireton,  Cromwell's  lieutenant  general,  (Oliver  was 
Iq  London  dissolving  the  Long  Parliament,)  renewed  the 
siege.  For  nine  months  he  pressed  the  place  with  can* 
non,  with  famine,  and  with  spectacles  of  horror.  Every 
prisoner  who  fell  into  his  hands  was  publicly  put  to 
death,  in  sight  of  the  city.  Sedition  also  was  fomented, 
and  a  party  of  the  magistrates  induced  to  surrender. 
O'Neil  resisted  this  proposal  with  all  his  might,  and 
found  in  Terence  Albert  O'Brien,  Bishop  of  Emly,  and 
Edmund  O'Dwyer,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  heroic  coadjutors. 
In  vain  the  prelate  and  the  soldier  exhorted,  argued, 
and  denounced  the  surrender ;  a  majoriiy  of  the  muni- 
cipal council  carried  it.  The  terms,  however,  were 
disputed  by  Ireton.  The  siege  went  on,  and  sedition 
grew  warmer  and  more  virulent.  A  Captain  French,  in 
the  interest  of  the  submi^sionists,  yielded  St.  John'B 
gate  to  Ireton,  and  then  the  brave  governor  and  the 
bishops,  to  save,  as  they  hoped,  the  lives  of  the  people, 
agreed  to  terms,  which  exempted  themselves,  and  fifteen 
of  their  friends,  from  the  list  of  the  pardoned.     When 


11 


•  Whitelock's  History,  p.  411. 


I   .,.; 


!  i 


i      i 


] 


,  1 


126 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


If*"" 


ii'i 


i'  .111 


the  town  was  once  in  the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  O'Neil 
was  tried,  and  by  one  vote  only  his  life  was  saved. 
General  Parcel,  Sir  Geoffrey  Galway,  Bishop  O'Brien, 
two  friars,  and  two  of  the  aldermen,  on  the  Eve  of  All  . 
Saints,  were  hanged  and  beheaded.*  Bishop  O'Dwyer 
escaped  in  the  disguise  of  a  trooper  to  Brussels,  and, 
like  his  birave  friend  O'Neil,  who  spent  a  long  interval 
in  London  Tower,  he  ended  his  days  in  exile. 

In  August,  1651,  the  Puritans  appeared  before  that 
city  called  —  Galloway^  rebellium  et  Gallorum  penulti- 
mum  refugium — "Galway,  the  refuge  of  rebels  and 
Frenchmen."  f  General  Preston  commanded  there,  and 
the  remnant  of  the  once  powerful  confederate  council, 
presided  over  by  Nicholas  French,  still  deliberated 
within  its  walls.  Altered,  indeed,  was  the  condition  of 
that  synod,*  but  not  unworthy  of  its  heroic  past  was 
the  end.  Driven  from  Kilkenny  to  Waterford,  thence 
to  Clonmel,  thence  to  Limerick,  to  Loughrea,  and  to 
Jamestown,  they  finally  removed  to  Galway,  their  "  city 
of  refuge."  Diminished  in  numbers,  but  not  in  spirit, 
the  empty  chairs  of  their  martyred  colleagues  elevated 
rather  than  appalled  their  courage.  Bishop  French  was 
the  soul  and  bond  of  these  last  mournful  sessions.  He 
endeavored  to  get  the  Marquis  of  Clanriokarde,  Charles's 
only  recognized  representative,  after  Ormond's  emigra- 
tion, to  take  the  captaincy  of  the  war.  Clanrickarde 
temporized  and  equivocated.  It  was  then  proposed 
to  make  peace  with  Cromwell.  The  bishop  stoutly 
opposed  the  suggestion,  and  advocated  the  revival  of 
the  old  oath  of  confederation,  suffered  to  lapse  at  the 
peace  of  1648,  and  the  open  invitation  of  foreign  aid, 
"  without  any  regard  to  King  Charles's  authority."  j 
Against  every  opposition  he  carried  this  motion,  and  he 
himself,  with  Rochfort,  Browne,  and  Plunkett,  leading 


*  At  his  execution,  Bishop  O'Brien  solemnly  summoned  Ireton  to 
follow  him  to  the  judgment  seat  of  God.  In  nine  days  after>  that  mer- 
ciless general  died  of  the  plague. 

t  Inscription  of  a  med{d  struck  hj  William  III. 

i  Clarendon's  Civil  Wars,  p.  186. 


/ 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


127 


commoners,  were  sent  out  instructed  by  the  council,  "  to 
treat  and  agree  with  any  Catholic  prince,  state,  republic, 
or  person,  as  they  might  deem  expedient  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Catholic  religion  and  nation,"  the 
council  promising  ^^  to  ratify  the  same."  These  en- 
voys—  this  forlorn  diplomatic  hope —>- landed  at  Am- 
sterdam and  proceeded  to  Brussels.  The  Duke  of 
Lorrain,  a  descendant  of  Godfrey,  the  crusader,  enter- 
tained their  propositions,  and  sent  De  Henin,  canon  of 
St  Catharine's,  with  five  thousand  pounds,  and  two 
small  ships  laden  with  military  stores,  to  the  assembly 
at  Gal  way.  De  Renin's  instructions  were  to  make 
a  treaty  securing  the  towns  yet  possessed  by  the 
Catholics,  with  the  title  of  "  lord  protector,"  to  his 
master.  Clanrickarde  refusing  to  even  entertain  their 
terms,  time  and  the  alliance  were  lost  forever. 

During  this  negotiation,  the  siege  of  Galway  went 
on.  In  October,  1651,  Ireton  prepared  to  march  on  it, 
but  before  he  could  leave  Limerick  he  died.  Ludlow, 
his  successor,  allowed  Coote  to  carry  on  the  siege.  In 
the  winter  it  slacked,  but  in  the  spring  it  was  renewed. 
On  the  12th  of  April,  1652,  Gtilway,  having  made 
tolerable  terms,  opened  her  marble  gates  to  the  con- 
querors. Preston,  the  general,  and  the  other  more 
active  confederates  immediately  sailed  for  France.* 


*  In  the  Life  of  the  Bishop  of  Killala,  (Francis  Kirwan,)  who  was  in 
Galway  durin;^  the  siege,  by  Bishop  Lynch,  also  of  Oalway,  this  inter- 
esting passage  respecting  the*  event  occurs  :  — 

«  While  the  Bishop  of  Killala  was  intent  on  these  pious  undertakings, 
the  hostile  army  marched  into  Connaught,  laying  the  province  waste 
with  fire  and  sword,  and  on  the  8th  of  July,  1651,  laid  that  siege  to 
Oalway  which  continued  to  the  ninth  month.  Meantime,  the  bishop 
labored  with  all  his  energies  to  drive  the  besiegers  from  before  the  city 
—  and  this  at  a  moment  when  the  Catholic  troops,  either  owing  to  their 
paucity  or  non-payment  of  their  arrears,  were  unwilling  to  march.  He 
caused  a  priest  to  precede  him,  carrying  a  cross,  and  in  this  fashion 
passed  through  his  entire  diocese,  beseeching  the  people  not  to  hesitate 
to  do  battle  for  their  king,  altars,  and  country,  and  contribute  money 
for  the  Bupjply  of  the  soldiery ;  for  he  hoped,  by  means  of  additional 
subsidies,  the  CathoUcs  would  raise  the  siege  of  Galway,  and  save  them- 
selves from  impending  ruin. 

<*  You  might  justly  style  him  another  Bernard,  inspiriting  men,  by 


■!l 


128 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


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Mm 

■J 

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M 


Nicholas  French,  the  last  heroic  name  of, this  ten 
years'  crusade,  died  where  he  was  educated,  at  Louvain 
College,  in  1678,  equally  proscribed  by  Cromwell  and 
by  Charles.  During  his  exile  he  was  coadjutor  in  turn 
to  the  Archbishops  of  St.  Jago,  in  Spain,  of  Ghent,  and 
of  Paris.  The  cardinal's  hat  is  sculptured  on  his 
tomb,  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Anthony ;  but  whether  that 
dignity  was  ever  conferred  on  him  is,  to  us,  not  known. 
His  writings  are  the  best  contemporary  record  of  the 


his  eloquence,  to  rally  in  masses  for  the  prosecution  of  the  holy  war, 
and  sustain  it  with  augmented  contributionB ;  or  another  St.  Lorohan« 
gathering  forces  by  money  and  entreaty,  to  snatch  his  Dublin  from  the 
enemy's  hands.  Yet,  though  the  efforts  of  those  three  men  proved 
iinayailing,  to  the  end  that,  by  long  endurance  of  calamities,  crimes 
might  be  expiated,  and  deserts  increased,  nevertheless  they  are  to  be 
regarded  as  divinely  inspired  j  for  Qod  sometimes  inflames  men's  minds 
for  war,  which  does  not  invariably  bring  about  the  result  desiderate(l 

"When  it  came  to  be  known  in  Europe  that  the  ChaUtiahs  were 
overwhebned  in  Palestine,  then  did  the  rabble  whet  their  tongues 
against  St.  Bernard,  and  cast  upon  him  the  blame  of  aU  the  slaughter ; 
for  he,  by  his  preaching,  caused  an  infinite  multitude  of  men  to  enroll 
themselves  among  the  crusaders.  Whilst  Bernard  was  brooking  all  this 
ignominy,  a  certain  pareqt  earnestly  entreated  him  to  obtain,  by  his 
prayers  from  Ood,  the  restoration  of  signt  for  his  son,  who  had  been 
stricken  blind.  At  first,  the  saint  positively  denied  that  he  had  any  such 
power ;  bu(,  urged  by  the  incessant  expostulations  of  the  >  y&tanders, 
he  flung  himself  upon  his  knees,  and  implored  God  *  that  ix'  ^hc  word 
of  his  preaching  had  come  from  Him,  or  if  his  Holy  Spirit  was  with 
him,  he  would  deign  to  evidence  it  by  restoring  vision  to  the  blind  one ; ' 
thereon  the  boy  saw  all  objects  before  him  clearly,  and  the  calumniators, 
converted  into  admirers  by  this  miracle,  renounced  their  objurgations,  and 
spoke  aloud  in  St.  Bernard's  praise. 

"  At  length  on  the  12th  of  April,  1652,  Galway  yielded  to  the  besieg- 
ers on  certain  conditions,  which  were  far  from  being  ifulfilled ;  and  a  few 
months  after,  the  whole  province  of  Connaught  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  who,  now  being  the  dominant  party,  bestowed  the  episcopal 
residence  of  Killala  on  Walter  Scsevola  de  Burgo,  a  noble  Catholic, 
ejected  from  his  castle  in  the  month  of  July.  By  this  transfer,  the  suc- 
cessful party  fancied  they  made  ample  reparation  to  the  foresaid  noble- 
man for  the  losses  he  had  sustained.  This  Scsevola  de  Burgo  not  only 
gave  permission  to  our  bishop  to  conceal  himself  in  his  house,  but 
rejoiced  exceedingly  at  the  opportunity.  The  prelate,  therefore,  hid 
himself  within  the  limits  of  a  cooped-up  sleeping  room,  which  contained 
two  beds,  for  himself  and  chaplain.  This  apartment  was  feebly  lighted 
by  a  window,  and  was  large  enough  to  hold  a  chest..  The  room  was 
infested  by  mice,  which  kept  continually  running  over  the  heads  of  the 
sleepers,  and  frequently  made  away  with  their  candle." 


PROTBSTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


129 


Catholic  confederation  of  1641-1651/     His  life  is  one 
of  the  most  inspiring  in  all  the  annals  of  his  country. 

The  Puritan  legislation  was  as  merciless  as  the  Puritan 
army.  It  extends  in  time  from  the  dispersion  of  the  last 
Catholic  council,  in  1651,  till  the  restoration  of  King 
Charles,  nine  years  later.  After  "  the  peace,"  the  Puri- 
tan officers  met,  in  their  usual  fashion,  to  consider  how 
the  soldiers  of  the  Parliament,  and  the  adventurers  of 
money  to  carry  on  the  war,  were  to  be  indemnified. 
<'Lora  Broghill  proposed,"  at  this  council,  "that  the 
whole  kingdom  might  be  sun^eyed,  and  the  number  of 
acres  taken,  with  the  quality  of  them ;  and  then  all  the 
soldiers  to  bring  in  their  arrears,  and  so  to  give  every 
man,  by  lot,  as  many  acres  of  ground  as  might  answer 
the  value  of  his  arrears.  This  was  agreed  on ;  and  all 
Ireland  being  surveyed,  and  the  value  of  acres  given  in, 
the  highest  was  valued  at  only  four  shillings  the  acre^  and 
some  only  at  a  penny.  Accordingly  they  took  the  names 
of  all  that  were  in  arrear,  who  drew  lots  in  which  part  of 
the  kingdom  their  portion  should  be ;  and  in  this  manner 
the  whole  kingdom  was  divided  among  the  conquerors 
and  adventurers  of  money."  f  Finding  this  scheme  im- 
practicable, an  alternative  was  opened  to  the  Catholic 
population.  A  large  part  of  the  province  of  Connaught 
and  county  of  Clare  had  become  depopulated  during  the 
war,  and  to  Connaught,  or  Barbadoes,  was  the  alterna- 
tive offered  to  the  vanquished.  Twenty  thousand  were 
transported  beyond  seas  to  the  West  India  colonies  and 
the  tobacco  .plantations ;  ^  thousands,  principally  fe- 
males, to  the  colonies  in  America."  Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands more  were  crowded  over  the  Shannon.  A  tribunal 
"to  ascertain  and  settle  claims  to  lands  and  houses  in 
Ireland,"  in.  the  years  1655,  6,  and  7,  was  daily  employed 
in  parcelling  out  the  island,  while  the  most  horrid  re- 
strictions were  imposed  on  the  remnant  of  the  dispos- 
sessed natives.  If  a  Catholic  moved  out  of  his  district 
without  a  license,  he  was  to  be  shot;  to  keep  a  musket, 

*  Dublin,  reprinted  by  James  Duffy,  1847,  (two  yoluines.) 
t  Orrery's  (Broghill's)  Memoirs,  vol.  i.  p.  39. 


I     ' 


I 
I 

i 


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i 


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ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THB 


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sword,  or  any  other  weapon,  was  punishable  with  death ; 
no  Catholic  could  reside  in  certain  chief  towns,  nor  within 
three  miles  of  their  walls ;  to  receive  or  harbor  a  priest 
was  present  death.''  *  ,  Most  rigorously  was  this  barba- 
rous code  executed,  in  every  detail.  The  popdlation  sunk 
below  what  it  had  been  even  after  the  Danish  wars,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  nation  decayed  quicker  than  the  num- 
bers. The  ruin  of  the  Catholic  gentry  was  absolute,,  and 
by  all  human  calculations  the  Catholic  religion  was  at 

^  the  very  point  of  expiration.  Upon  the  dewy  pastures 
of  Erin  ruritan  cattle  fatten,  wnile  in  the  swamps  of 
Barbadoes  the  Irish  cry  goes  up  to  Heaven.  But  all  do 
not  live  to  reach  Barbadoes.  Thousands  perished  at  sea. 
Emir  McMahon,  Bishop  of  Clogher,  was  beheaded 
and  embowelled  at  Enniskillen ;  Arthur  Maginnis,  Bishop 
of  Down,  died  at  sea,  flying  into  exile ;  the  Archbishop 
of  Cashel,  and  the  Bishop  of  Leighlin,  were  fugitives  in 
Spain ;  the  Bishops  of  Limerick,  Raphoe,  and  Ferns,  in 

*  the  Netherlands ;  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  the  Bishops 
of  Cork,  Cloyne,  Ross,  Waterford,  Killalo,  and  Kilfenora, 
in  different  parts  of  France.  The  Bishop  of  Kilmacduah 
was  concealed  among  his  friends  in  England.  Clf  the 
twenty-six  Irish  prelates,  only  three  were  suffered  in 
Ireland,  the  Primate  O'Reilly,  McGeoghegan,  Bishop  of 
Meath,  and  the  bedrid  Bishop  of  Kilmore.  Of  the  bish- 
ops, who,  in  the  victorious  days  of  the  confederation, 
filled  their  sees,  administering  orders  and  governing  the 
churches,  twelve  died  in  exile,  and  four  suffered  martyr- 
dom. The  sufferings  of  tbose  who  lay  in  concealment 
year  after  year  were  almost  bevond  the  endurance  of 
fortitude  even  such  as  theirs.  The  adventures  of  one  — 
the  Bishop  of  Killalo  — js  illustrative  of  those  of  all  his 
contemporaries.    His  biographer  says : 

"He  then  proceeded,  by  short  marches,  to  Galway, 
"  apd  finally  entered  the  city  about  eventide,  in  disguise. 
"  Here  he  remained  safe  for  a  long  time,  protected  by  his 
"  friends ;  but  a  rumor  was  soon  spread  that  he  was  con- 


*  Clarendon's  Life,  vol.  iL  p.  116.  Laws  of  the  rrotoctorate,  A.  B. 
1656  and  6.  Mr.  Carlyle,  with  his  usual  fanaticism,  att^jujpts  to  justify 
this  wholesale  plunder.  -—  Life  and  Letters  of  CromweUt  vol.  i.. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


181 


**  cealed  in  the  city ;  whoreon  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison 
« expanded  and  squandered  much  time  searchins  for 
f  him.  They  had  been  certilied  by  informers  oi  the 
<'  houses  which  the  bishop  was  wont  to  frequent,  and  thea 
<^  searched  their  inmost  recesses ;  but  ns  the  search  was 
^^  instituted,  generally  speaking,  about  three  days  after 
i'  the  bishop  had  retired  thence,  they  did  not  airrest  him. 
"  So  keen,  however,  wa^  their  pursuit  of  him,  that  he  was 
'*  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  topmost  stories  of  the 
«  houses,  aneath  the  tiles,  and  this,  too,  at  midwinter 
"  without  a  spark  of  fire.  Sometimes  he  was  forced  to 
<<  go  out  on  the  roof,  and,  whilst  his  pursuers  were  gaining 
'<  on  him,  to  descend  into  a  neighboring  house  by  the 
"  dormant  window.  For,  as  most  of  the  houses  in  Gkl- 
<'  way  are  connected,  a  person'  can  safely  walk  on  the 
"  roofs,  and  thus  pass  from  one  house  to  another^  and, 
'^  as  the  interior  walls  support  tl^e  roof,  parapets  rise  on 
<<  the  outside,  under  cover  of  which  it  is  easy  to  find, 
"  shelter. 

^<  At  length,  after  the  bishop  had  eluded  the  various 
**  snares  set  for  him,  he  was  joyously  received  by  a  cer- 
"  tain  friend  who  was  not  very  rich.  Little  did  this  man 
*'  care  for  the  loss  of  his  property,  which  was  inconsidera- 
"  ble,  but  greatly  was  he  concerneu  for  the  safety  of  his 
<'  prelate.  Here,  in  midwinter,  on  the  floor,  right  under 
''  the  roof,  without  a  fire,  was  he  obliged  to  lurk  as  long 
^^  as  his  health  permitted  him,  nor  did  he  descend  to  the 
*'  lower  chamber  till  nighttime,  when  he  required  sleep. 
"  Owing^  to  this  irksome,  sedentary  habit  and  unhealthy 
"  position,  together  with  all  his  former  sufferings,  he  was 
"  seized  with  a  most  grievous  malady,  and  compelled  to 
"  betake  bim  to  his  bed,  nor  could  he  much  longer  escape 
"  the  soldiers,  who  licentiously  visited  every  house ;  whera- 
"  fore,  to  protect  him  from  their  ruffian  assaults,  he  was 
"  advised  by  some  friends  to  surrender  himself  to  the 
"  governor,  who,  seeing  that  the  virulence  of  his  disease 
"  was  killing  him,  forbade  the  soldiers  to  give  him  any 
"  trouble,  as  soon  as  some  of  the  richer  citizens  had  en- 
**  tered  into  security  for  his  appearance  in  the  governor's 
**  court,  provided  he  survived." 


ns" 


f'i    (if 


■  1l 


182 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH   THE 


At  home  the  priesthood  fared  full  worse.  In  1652,  the 
Puritan  commissioner  proclaimed  the  27th  of  Elizabeth 
to  be  "the  law  of  the  commonwealth,"  as  to  priests  and 
Jesuits.  Twenty-eight  days  only  were  given  all  such 
persons  to  depart  the  kingdom.  A  great  number  emi- 
grated, but  about  an  equal  number  remained.  A  thou- 
sand victims  dared  to  remain  to  be  captured  and  executed, 
and  the  cruel  perseverance  with  which  they  were  hunted 
down  resembles  more  the  revengeful  horrors  of  romance 
than  the  truths  of  history.  "  Some  of  them  were  burned 
before  a  slow  fire ;  some  were  put  on  the  rack,  and  tor- 
tured to  death;  whilst  others,  like  Ambrose  Cahill  and 
James  O'Reilly,  were  not  only  slain  with  the  greatest 
cruelty,  but  their  inanimate  bodies  were  torn  into  frag- 
ments, and  scattered  before  the  wind."*  The  Dominican 
order  counts  thirty  Irish  martyrs  within  its  decade ;  the 
Augustinians  an  equal  number;  the  Franciscans  still 
more ;  the  losses  of  the  Jesuits  must  have  been  griat. 
Of  the  destruction  of  the  secular  clergy  there  is  no  rec- 
ord, but  of  near  p,  thousand  who  remained  in  Ireland 
after  the  proclamation  of  1652,  it  is  ceirtain  not  one  half 
outlived  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Fearful  as  was  the  persecution  of  the  clergy,  nobles, 
and  peasants,  the  afflictions  of  those  who  lived  in  gar- 
risoned districts  were  scarce  less.  Upon  these  the  soldiery 
were  billeted  at  free  quarters,  and  from  them  their  pay 
was  collected  weekly. 

"  Along  with  the  three  scourges  of  God,"  says  an 
eye-witness,  — "  famine,  plague,  and  war,  there  was 
"  another,  which  some  called  the  fourth  scourge,  to  wit, 
"  the  weekly  exaction  of  the  soldiers'  pay,  which  was 
"  extorted,  with  incredible  atrocity,  each  Saturday, — 
"  bugles  sounding  and  drums  beating.  On  these  occa- 
"  sions  the  soldiers  entered  the  various  houses,  and 
"  pointing  their  muskets  to  the  breasts  of  men  and 
'*  women,  threatened  them  with  instant  death  if*  the 
"  sum  demanded  was  not  immediately  givep.    Should  it 

*  Croly's  Life  of  Archbishop  Plunket,  Dublin,  1850,  O'Daly's  Geral- 
dine,  Dr.  French's  Tracts,  and  Peter  Walsh's  History  of  tl^e  Remon- 
strance, are  the  best  contemporary  authorities. 


♦    fi.  •."     'i 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


133 


^  have  so  happened,  that  the  continual  payment  of 
«  these  pensions  had  exhausted  the  means  of  the  people, 
«  bed,  bedding,  sheets,  table  cloths,  dishes,  and  every 
"  description  of  furniture,  nay,  the  very  garments  of  the 
"  women, .  torn  off  their  persons,  were  carried  to  the 
"  market-place  and  sold  for  a  small  sum ;  so  much  so, 
"  that  each  recurring  Satuiday  bore  a  resemblance  to 
*'  the  day  of  judgment,  and  the.  clangor  of  the  trumpet 
"  smote  the  people  with  terror  almost  equal  to  that  of 
«  doomsday."  * 

Domiciliary  visits  were  ,made  at  all  hours  of  the  night 
and  day,  and  the  godly  soldiers  of  the  Covenant,  like 
other  rigid  theorists,  showed,  by  the  licentiousness  of 
their  lives,  how  very  far  an  affected  austerity  is  firom  real 
piety  and  purity. 

Moreover,  the  "  navigation  act,"  passed  by  the  Pro- 
tector ostensibly  against  the  Dutch,  struck  still  more 
severely  at  the  Irish  seaports.  From  them,  nominally 
under  the  same  government,  all  direct  trade  with  the 
colonies  was  cut  off.  By  securing  the  monopoly  of  the 
« carrying  trade "  to  "  British  bottoms,"  Ireland  was 
ordered  off  the  ocean  as  a  trespasser ;  nor  has  she  ever 
yet  recovered  what  she  lost  during  the  long  continuance 
of  that  moat  partial  and  unjust  statute.f  This  and 
other  laws  of  the  commonwealth  were  enacted  in 
London,  the  two  kingdoms  being  placed  by  the  Pro- 
tector under  one  general  legislature. 

Oliver  died  in  September,  1658,  to  the  great  delight 
of  the  Catholics.  Immediately  a  presentiment  of  Kii^ 
Charles's  return  filled  the  minds  of  men.  Though 
Richard  Cromwell  was  proclaimed  Protector,  at  London 
and  Dublin,  no  one  expected  him  to  hold  power.  Im- 
itating the  adroit  policy  of  General  Monk,  Broghill 
Coote,  Inchiquin,  and  other  Irish  Puritans,  besieged 
Athlone,   Limerick,  Clonmel,  and  Waterford,  and  de- 

*  Lynch's  Life  of  Bishop  Kirwan. 

t   Cromwell's   navigation  act,  the   basis  of  the  maritime  code  of  ^ 
England,  was  reenacted  by  Charles  II.'s  first  Parliament ;  repealed  by 
the  Irish  Parliament  in  1779,  after  operating  above  a  century.    It  hM 
been  finally  abolished  in  England^  in  1849. 

12 


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134 


ATTEMPTS   TO- ESTABLISH   THE 


it-     I  r; 


€lared  for  the  king.  At  the  restoration,  next  year, 
Broghill  was  made  Earl  of  Orrery,  Coote  Earl  of 
Mountrath,  and  the  rest  confirmed  in  their-parliamenta- 
rian  grants.  Though  the  greater  part  of  their  spoila 
were  also  secured  to  them,  the  Dublin  Puritans,  in 
common  with  their  English  brethren,  never  relished 
the  restoration.  In  1665,  under  Colonel  Blood,  they 
attempted  to  seize  the  Castle  of  Dublin  but  the  plot 
failed. 

Twenty  years  later  we  find  them  active  against 
James,  and  devoted  to  William.  A  leaven  of  the  old 
spirit  of  Hugh  Peters  and  Stephen  Jerome  has  always 
lingered  in  the  Irish  capital,  but  its  activity  has  been 
only  an  irritant  to  the  more  powerful  and  better  dis- 
posed classes  of  that  population.  Presbyterian  Derry 
submitted  to  the  restoration  with  similar  insincerity. 

The  Puritan  and  Presbyterian  powers  had  Ireland, 
as  we  have  seen,  at  their  mercy  for  a  dozen  years. 
They  succeeded  in  destroying  many,  in  converting 
none.  They  fought  bravely,  giving  no  quarter  to  "  the 
uncircumcised."  They  rooted  out  the  Irish  gentry,  and 
exiled  or  martyred  the  clergy.  They  had  imported  into 
Ireland  the  seeds  of  every  kindred  sect,  but  not  one  of 
thefn  took  root*  They  had  violated  shrines,  .defaced 
tombs,  defiled  altars,  and  beheaded  priests ;  but  they  had 
not  made  twenty  Puritans  in  all  broad  Ireland !  It  is 
recorded  with  wonderment  in  the  records  of  Galway 
that  in  that  populous  city  they  had  a  solitary  convert, 
one  Lynch  Fitz- Thomas,  who,  it  is  added,  died  of 
remorse  and  a  broken  heart.  They  were  less  successful 
even  than  Browne  and  St  Leger,  than  Strafford  and 
Usher.  These  first  reformers  could  fill  a  pew,  at  a 
pinch,  but  as  for  the  poor  Puritans,  all  their  Irish  con- 
verts might  have  been  stowed  into  Hugh  Peters's  pulpit. 

Of  the  chief  of  the  ferocious  sect,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
we  need  say  but  little.     The  perverse  spirit  of  a  litera- 


*  ••  Independents,  Anabaptists,  Seceders,  Brownista,  Socinians,  MU- 
lenarians,  and  Dissenters  of  every  description  "  formed  *'  this  new 
oolonj  "^Speech  of  Lord  ChanceUor  dantr  on  the  Iriah  Union,  1800. 


tare  wh 
mere  st 
It  entire 
find  hin 
justice, 
heroic  a 
hypocris 
made. 
Irish 
which  n 
rapine, 
religion, 
detestab 


V; 


'.'■'f 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


135 


'nUid 


:Ji'' 


lext  year, 
Earl  of 
rliamenta* 
tieir  spoils 
uritans,  in 
sr  relished 
lood,  they 
t  the  plot 

e  against 
of  the  old 
as  always 
'  has  been 
Detter  dis* 
ian  Derry 
cerity. 
d  Ireland, 
zert  years, 
converting 
er  to  "  the 
entry,  and 
)orted  into 
lot  one  of 
s,  .defaced 
t  they  had 
nd !  It  is 
f  Galway 
ry  convert, 
,  died  of 
successful 
ifford  and 
)ew,  at  a 
Irish  con- 
rs's  pulpit. 
Cuomwell, 
►f  a  litera- 


ture  whose  boast  is  to  glorify  success  and  worship 
mere  strength,  has  striven  to  exalt  him  into  a  hero. 
It  entirely  depends  on  the  standard^  whether  or  not  you 
find  him  to  be  a  hero.  If  candor,  bravery,  gentleness, 
justice,  generosity,  and  unostentatious  devotion  be 
heroic  attributes,  Oliver  was  none.  K  craft,  courage, 
hypocrisy,  and  slaughter  make  a  hero,  he  was  self- 
made. 

Irish  tradition  has  kept  his  memory  in  a  proverb 
which  makes  his  name  synonymous  with  hunger  and 
rapine.  History,  informed  by  the  spirit  of  our  holy 
religion,  condemns  him  as  one  of  the  most  wicked  and 
detestable  of  the  fallen  children  of  Adai 


f    !! 


eiiiians,  Mil- 
«« thia  new 
tion,  1800. 


!  -  L-'      ...t  ; 


BOOK  II. 


A.   D.    1660   TO    1727. 


I  I 


FROM  THB 


RESTORATION   OF   CHARLES  II 


UKTIXi  THB 


DEATH  OF   GEORGE  I. 


12 


rk 


i     I 


M 


^ 


y 


*• 


'■Mm 


CHAPTER   L 


AESTOBATION  OF  CHABLES  H.— ACT  OF  SEITLISMENT.  —  OBMOND'B 
ATTBMFr  TO  GALUCAinZE  THE  IRISH  CHUBCH.  —  STNOO  OF  I6fi6. 

—  LORD    BERKELEY'S     YICEROYALTT.  —  THE    NEW    TEST    ACHT 

<*THE  POPISH   PLOT.*'— MARTTBDOM  OF  PBIMATB   PLUNKEIT.— 
ASSASSINATION  OF  COUNT  BEDMOxiD  O'HANLON. 

\ 

Afteb  ten  years  of  exile,  Charles  IL  was  restored  to 
the  throne  of  England,  in  the  spring  of  1660.  His  min- 
isters were  chosen  from  among  the  companions  of  his 
banishment — the  principal  being  Lord  Clarendon,  for 
chancellor,  and  the  Marquis,  now  Duke  of  Ormond,  for 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland.  Ormond  brought  with  him 
to  Dublin  a  lively  recollection  of  the  opposition  given  to 
his  designs,  twenty  years  before,  by  the  bishops,  and  pow- 
ers of  intrigue  which  the  shifts  of  exile  had  practised  to 
perfection. 

The  king,  in  his  declaration,  signed  and  sealed  at 
Breda,  the  year  before  his  restoration,  had  pledged  him- 
self against  pe^ecution.  "  We  do  declare,"  he  said,  "  a 
liberty  to  tender  consciences ;  and  that  no  man  shall  be 
disquieted,  or  called  in  question  for  matters  of  religion 
which  do  not  disturb  the  peace  of  the  kingdorr  ;  and  that 
we  shall  be  ready  to  xjonsent  to  such  an  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, as,  upon  mature  deliberation,  shall  be  offered  to  us 
for  the  full  granting  of  that  indulgence."  The  year  of  his 
restoration,  in  his  speech  to  the  new  Parliament,  he  had 
also  said,  ^<  I  hope  I  need  say  nothing  of  Ireland,  and 
that  they  alone  shall  not  be  without  the  full  benefit  of 
my  mercy;  they  have  showed  much  affection  to  me 
abroad,  and  you  will  have  a  care  of  my  honor  and  of 
what  I  have  promised  them."  Such  was  CharlesV  per- 
sonal relation  to  the  Irish  Catholics. 

Respect  for  the  king's  pledges,  as  well  as  his  natural 
turn  of  mind,  led  Ormond  again  to  temporize  with  the  Irish 


•II 
(1 


lmi\ 


140 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


(SiEii 


*ff  S' 


l*»'*i. 


bishops.  In  this  case,  he  employed  Father  Peter  Walsh, 
a  native  of  Kildare,  and  graduate  of  Louvain,  a  Francis- 
can by  profession,  but  a  Galilean  and  a  tuft-hunter. 
Early  in  1661,  Father  Walsh  procured,  from  the  Irish  prel- 
ates on  the  continent,  a  power  of  attorney  to  act  as  their 
"  procurator,"  within  certain  limits.  "  You  must  humble 
yourselves  more,"  wrote  Walsh  to  his  principals ;  "  I  dare 
not  show  your  letters  to  the  duke."  Bishop  French, 
«  seeing  he  could  not  satisfy  God  and  his  grace  together," 
refup?d  a  more  -complete  submission,  and  Walsh,  having 
dra\vn  up ."  a  remonstrance,"  or  protestation  of  Catholic 
loyalty,  could  obtain  only  the  signature  of  the  bedrid 
Bishop  of  Kilmore,  about  seven  of  the  Catholic  gentry,  a 
few  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  townsmen  of  Wexford. 
.  With  these  names  it  was  presented  to  King  Charles, "  who 
reserved  a  clean  copy  of  it  for  his  own  use."  The  same 
year  the  statute  of  uniformity  was  reenacted  at  West- 
minster. 

The  Catholic  gentry  fared  almost  as  ill  as  the  exiled 
prelacy.  The  Irish  Puritan  proprietors  kept  as  their  agents 
at  court  Sir  James  Shean  and  Sir  John  Clotworthy,  at 
whose  disposal  they  placed  between  twenty  and  thirty 
thousand  pounds,  to  "  dispose  of  it  properly,"  in  "  making 
presents."  Shean  as&ures  his  chief  employer.  Orrery,  that 
he  made  a  good  use  of  it,  being  so  "  wary  as  to  pay  the 
money  by  other  hands"  than  his  own.  In  Ormond  and 
Clarendon  these  agents  had  powerful  friends,  and  by  them 
the  act  of  settlement  was  obtained,  by  which  all  who  had 
not  gone  over  to  Ormond  in  the  confederate  war,  or  who 
had  "  resided  in  the  enemies* "  quarters,  were  declared  dis- 
entitled to  their  estates.  In  vain  eight  thousand  old  pro- 
prietors appealed  to  the  king's  mercy  and  to  his  honor. 
Out  of  that  nui^aber  less  than  a  thousand  were  heard,  and 
about  a  score  were  successful.  In  Ulster  Lord  Antrim 
and  Sir  Henry  O'Neil,  in  Connaught  Lord  Clanrickarde, 
Lord  Mayo,  Colonel  O' Kelly,  and  Colonel  Moore  only 
were  restored.  The  act  of  explanation,  formally  indorsing 
the  new  arrangement  of  Irish  titles,  was  passed  in  1665, 
and  received  the  king's  sanction.  For  their  services  in 
procuring  its  enactment,  Clarendon  had  eight  thousand 


Mlli 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND.  141 

pounds,  Sir  Heneage  Finch,  the  king's  solicitor,  six  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  Ormond  over  sixty  thousand  pounds, 
besides  the  fee  simple  of  Kilkenny  city,  procured  for  him 
by  the  Puritan  lords.  The  Cromwellians  by  this  act 
had  seven  million  eight  hundred  thousand  Irish  acres  con- 
firmed to  them.  The  situation  of  *':  old  Irish  proprie- 
tors, hangers-on  at  the  court  of  Charles,  was  miserable 
in  the  extreme.  In  vain  Lord  Castlemaine  (or  whoever 
wrote,  in  1666,  the  memorial  called  "  Castlemaine's 
Apology  for  the  Catholics")  represented  their  case  in 
most  moving  terms.  "  Consider,  we  beseech  you,"  he 
said,  <<the  sad  condition  of  the  Irish  soldiers  now  in 
England;  the  worst  of  which  nation  could  be  but  in- 
tentionally BO  wicked,  as  the  acted  villany  of  many 
English,  whom  your  admired  clemency  pardoned.  Re- 
member how  they  left  the  Spanish  service  when  they 
heard  their  king  was  in  France,  and  how  they  forsook 
the  employmei\t  of  that  unnatural  prince,  after  he  had 
committed  the  never-to-be-forgotten  act  of  banishing 
his  distressed  kinsman  out  of  his  kingdom.  These  men 
left  all  again  to  bring  their  monarch  to  his  home :  and 
shall  they  then  be  forgotten  by  you  ? "  All  in  vain ! 
No  eloquence  could  reach  the  Parliament,  still  largely 
tinctured  with  Puritanism.  Their  fanaticism  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  of  their  attributing  the  great  fire 
of  London,  in  1666,  to  the  Papists,  instead  of  to  narrow 
streets  and  wooden  houses. 

The  claims  of  the  Catholic  gentry  being  successfully 
resisted,  Ormond  lent  his  hand  anew  to  overreaching 
the  episcopacy.  Seeing  the  king  so  weak,  and  the 
Parliament  so  strong,  the  bishops  were  willing  to  waive 
some  of  the  claims  advanced  at  the  restoration.  All 
Europe  had  remarked  on  the  breach  of  the  royal  faith 
plighted  to  them,  and  it  was  deemed  politic  by  the 
king's  ministers  to  show  some  desire  to  redeem  the 
pledges  of  Breda.  In  this  spirit  the  duke  proposed  a 
synod  of  such  of  the  surviving  bishops,  abroad,  as 
he  sihould  grant  passes  to  for  that  purpose.  Father 
Wajili's  remonstrance,  the  propositions  adopted  by  the 
UniX^lfeity  of  Paris  in  1663,  and  some  Irish  books,  pub- 


lA  •h.Hi. 


■  ff  I 


Mi 


142 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


M'.  "t 


lished  at  Lisbon,  advocating  the  abstract  right  of 
Ireland  forcibly  to  separate  from  England,  were  to  be 
submitted  to  them  —  the  first  two  for  approval,  these 
last  for  formal  condemnation.  On  these  topics,  the 
lieutenant  anticipated  either  division  or  disagreement : 
"  Set  them  at  open  difference,"  wrote  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
"  that  we  may  reap  some  practical  advantage  thereby." 
**  My  object,"  responded  Ormond,  "  was  to  work  a  divi- 
sion among  the  Romish  clergy."  * 

No  subjects  of  debate  could  be  better  chosen  for  the 
purpose  than  Galilean  and  Ultramontane  principles. 

This  memorable  synod,  which  tested  so  severely  the 
fortitude  of  the  outlawed  bishops,  met  in  Dublin,  on  the 
11th  of  June,  1666,  and  sat  fifteen  days.  The  primate, 
O'Reilly,  the  Bishop  of  Meath,  the  vicars  of  four  other 
bishops,  (all  who  then  remained  alive,)  and  the  superiors 
of  the  regular  orders  attended.  The  regular  clergy  at 
the  time,  in  Ireland,  amounted  to  eleven  hundred, 
and  the  seculars  to  seven  hundred  and  eighty.  By 
these,  through  their  representatives,  the  propositions 
of  Paris  were  formally  repudiated,  and  "the  remon- 
strance "  set  aside  as  of  questionable  orthodoxy.  They 
condemned  the  books  advocating  separation  from  Eng- 
land, and  presented  a  succinct  declaration  of  their 
own  loyalty.  Wherever  the  propositions  or  the  remon- 
strance had  trenched  on  the  Papal  supremacy,  they 
courageously  condemned  both.f  On  the  25th,  the  synod 
was  ordered  to  disperse,  the  bishops  and  vicars  fled,  and 
all  seminaries  and  convents  were  closed  by  proclama- 
tion. Primate  O'Reilly,  after  being  imprisoned  in 
England,  was  allowed  to  exile  himself.  In  1669,  he 
died  at  Brussels,  and  Dr.  Oliver  Plunkett,  a  professor 
in    the   College  de   Propaganda  Fide  was  sent  from 

Rome  to  fill  his  place. 

•*        <>  « 

•  Curry's  Civil  Wars,  book  ix.  c.  14.  —  Carte's  Life  of  Ormond,  vol.  il 
Appendix,  p.  10.  The  letter  of  the  duke  to  Lord  Orrery  is  given  in 
Curry's  Civil  Wars. 

t  Walsh's  History  of  the  Remonstrance.    Charles  Butler's  Memoin  '| 
of  the  Catholics,  vol.  iii.  p.  420. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


143 


The  Catholic  exiles  abroad  filled  Europe  with  their 
denunciations  of  Ormond's  persecution,  which  was 
almost  as  severe  as  Cromwell's.  The  pope  and  the 
King  of  Spain  joined  in  reproaching  Charles.  His 
court  was  divided  into  factions,  and  he  himself  seems 
only  to  have  hoped  that  the  monarchy  might  outlast  his 
day.  In  1669,  however,  Ormond  was  removed  from  the 
viceroyalty,  and  after  a  few  months  of  Lord  Roberts, 
Lord  Berkeley,  a  pro-Catholic,  was  appointed,  through 
the  influence  of  the  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  .himes  II. 
Lord  Berkeley's  administration  was  a  blessed  calm  to  the 
Irish  Catholics.  Primate  Plunkett  openly  visited  his 
diocese,  confirming  children^  consecrating  churches,  and 
ordaining  priests.  A  synod  was  allowed  to  sit  in 
Dublin,  without  interference  of  the  state.  Peter  Talbot, 
archbishop  of  the  city,  was  received  in  his  robes  at  the 
castle.  Chapels  were  connived  at  in  every  ward ;  new 
priests  arrived  by  every  ship;  Catholic  aldermen  were 
admitted  to  the  municipal  councils,  and  some  Catholic 
commoners  were  elected  to  Parliament. 

Emboldened  by  these  signs,  the  Catholic  gentry, 
disinherited  by  the  a^t  of  settlement,  appointed  Colonel 
Richard  Talbot,  one  of  the  Duke  of  York's  favorites, 
special  agent  to  promote  their  claims  at  London.  In 
August,  1671,  notwithstanding  the  rigorous  opposition 
of  Ormond,  Orrery,  and  Finch,  a  royal  commission  was 
issued,  during  the  recess  of  Parliament,  to  inquire  into 
the  allegations  of  the  petitioners.  A  regular  storm  arose 
in  consequence,  and  the  Puritan  majority  of  the  new 
House  of  Commons,  in  1673,  compelled  the  king  to  recall 
Lord  Berkeley,  and  to  rescind  '^  the  declaration  of  indul- 
gence to  dissenters,"  granted  three  years  before.  They 
did  not  stop  here :  they  proceeded,  in  the  infamous  "  test 
act,"  to  declare  every  person  incapable  of  civil  or  mili- 
tary employment  who  did  not  take  the  oath  of  su- 
premacy, renounce  transubstantiation,  and  "  receive  the 
sacrament"  according  to  their  heretical  form ;  they  de- 
manded that  all  convents  and  seminaries  should  be 
closed,  that  all  Catholics  should  be  expelled  from  cor- 
porate   towns,   and   that    Colonel   Talbot   should    be 


,   ■  V 


;^**U|jZ| 


144 


ATTBMPTil   TO   ESTABLISH    THB 


arrested.  The  king,  to  whom  the  very  name  of  a  Parlia- 
ment was  terrible,  yielded  on  every  point  Archbishop 
Talbot,  with  his  brother,  being  specially  named  in  the 
parliamentary  address,  had  to  iiy  into  France 'for  present 
safety. 

After  three  years  of  truce  or  toleration,  the  war  was 
thus  renewed  on  the  Irish  church.  In  these  years  she 
had  undergone  such  reparation  as  enabled  her  to  sur- 
vive the  terrible  storms  then  approaching.  The  primate, 
Oliver  Plunkett,  a  man  of  rare  sagacity,  goodness,  and 
energy,  had  increased  the  secular  clergv  from  eleven 
bunored  to  above  two  thousand ;  healed  the  breaches 
between  the  Dominicans  and  fVanciscans,  and  while 
maintaining  the  dignity  of  his  own  see,  had  aided 
in  the  restoration  of  several  others.  His  astonishiug 
labors  were  the  best  proof  that  he  was  the  worthiest  of 
all  the  Irish  church  to  fill  the  see  which  St.  Patrick 
had  founded,  and  which  St  Malachy  had,  under  isimi- 
iar  circumstances,  repaired. 

Lord  Essex,  Beri^ey's  successor,  continued  viceroy  in 
Ireland  till  1677,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  old  Ormond. 
He  permitted  the  secret  exercise  of  Catholic  worship, 
which  Ormond,  now  that  the  war  bishops  were  all  dead, 
would  probably  have  continued  to  allow,  had  not  ''the 
Popish  Plot "  suddenly  broke  out  in  London.  News  of 
the  discovery  reached  him  in  his  castle  at  Kilkenny  in 
October,  1678,  and  though  in  private  he  ridiculed  the 
clumsy  inventions  of  Oates  and  Bedloe,*  he  publicly 
aifected  great  anxiety  and  activity  in  bringing  the  ac- 
cused parties  to  justice. 

This  horrible  delusion,  known  as  "  the  Popish  Plot," 
was  one  of  those  periodical  paroxysms  of  superstition 
and  bigotry  to  which  the  English  popular  mind  has, 
since  the  reformation,  been  subject  Its  author  was 
Titus  Oates,  "  a  drunken  and  disorderly  minister "  of 
the  establishment ;  a  wretch  who  had  left  his  character 
in  the  stews,  and  his  ears  in  the  pillory;  yet  was  he 
implicitily  believed,  not  only  against  priests  and  Jesuits, 


*  Carte's  Life  of  Ormond. 


'    :     ™ 


PROTESTANT    RBFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


145 


but  against  peers  of  the  realm,  and  even  the  kins^s  con- 
sort and  brother.  His  success  excited  rivals ;  Bedloe, 
Carstairs,  and  Dangcrfield  appeared  in  qaick  succession, 
and  the  wildest  inventions  of  romance  were  probable, 
compared  to  their  narratives.  Yet,  on  such  testimony, 
scores  of  innocent  lives  were  taken,  and  the  fatal  prison 
cells,  throughout  both  kingdoms,  were  crowded  with  the 
"  suspected." 

This  reign  of  terror  was  made  the  pretext  for  ex- 
tending the  test  act  to  the  peers  of  the  realm.  James, 
Duke  of  York,  and  seven  others,  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
protested  against  a  measure  to  that  effect ;  but  the  meas- 
ure passed.  The  duke  was  next  driven  from  the  privy 
council,  and  an  attempt  made  to  exclude  him  and 
his  issue  from  the  throne ;  but  after  a  protracted  contest, 
and  two  dissolutions  of  Parliament,  it  failed,  and  the 
duke's  friends  increased  as  the  credit  of  the  plot  and 
the  health  of  Charles  declined.  James's  conduct  at  this 
juncture,  as  well  as  his  marriage  with  Mary  of  Mode'na. 
a  Catholic,  caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  the  head  and 
hope  of  the  Catholics  of  both  islands. 

While  "  the  plot "  raged,  Ormond  adopted  the  most 
severe  measures  against  the  Irish  Catholics.  He  seized 
Archbishop  Talbot  of  Dublin,  "  then  in  a  dying  way,'^ 
and  threw  him  into  the  castle  prison,  where,  in  1681, 
he  expired.  He  issued  a  proclamation,  dated  October  16y 
ordering  all  bishops,  priests,  and  Jesuits  to  depart  thv 
kingdom  by  the  20th  of  November.  Another  proclama- 
tion commanded  all  ship  masters,  outward  bound,  to 
carry  them  away  ;  another  offered  large  rewards  for 
every  officer  and  soldier  who  might  be  found  attending 
mass ;  another  banished  all  Catholics  from  the  principal 
walled  towns  and  cities.  An  earlier  proclamation,  in  1679, 
ordered  "the  kindred  and  friends"  of  all  recusants,  or 
"  persons  out  on  their  keeping,"  to  be  seized  and  impris- 
oned till  the  said  persons  were  "either  killed  or  taken;" 
also,  that  whenever  a  murder  was  committed,  and  the 
murderer  not  discovered,  "  the  pretended  Popish  parish 
priest "  (if  any)  should  be  transported  beyond  the  sea& 
till  the  murderer  was  "  either  killed  or  taken."  "  Vast 
13 


'l!fl 


I  ^'^  -^^^ 


146 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


numbers  of  priests  were  shipped  off,"  on  these  and  other 
pretences,  "and  the  rest  lurked  in  holes  and  corners." 
Some,  for  their  heroic  devotion  to  their  missions,  paid 
the  final  penalty  of  death  on  the  scaffold. 

Among  the  martyrs  of  this  age,  the  most  illustrious  in 
rank  and  virtues  was  the  primate.  On  the  issuing  of 
the  -proclamation,  he  left  his  usual  residence,  and  went 
secretly  to  lodge  in  a  village  called  Castletown  Bellew. 
Here  he  held  a  last  ordination,  and  here,  on  the  6th  of 
December,  1679,  he  was  arrested,  on  a  charge  of  exer- 
cising ecclesiastical  authority  contrary  to  law.  The 
next  year  this  charge  was  dropped,  and  the  more  tangible 
one  of  high  treason  taken  up.  One  Hetherington,  an 
accomplished  English  "  discoverer "  of  the  Oates  school, 
was  sent  over  by  Shaftesbury  "to  obtain  information;" 
and  by  him  a  score  of  good  swearers  were  readily  en- 
listed. These  wretches,  and  those  they  accused,  iwere 
ordered  to  London  for  the  trial.  Lord  Burke  of  Brittas, 
and  some  others,  arrested  on  the  same  evidence,  escaped 
by  the  glaring  contradiction  of  the  witnesses ;  but  the 
primate  was  not  equally  fortunate,  though  the  witnesses 
against  him  were  also  contradictory.  In  1680,  he  had 
been  lodged  in  Newgate,  London,  "  where  for  six 
months  no  Christian  came  hear  him,  nor  did  he  know 
how  things  stood  in  the  world."  His  trial,  brought  on 
in  May,  and  postponed  till  June,  was  had  before  a 
bench  "that  knew  neither  justice  nor  good  manners. 
Jeffreys,  then  a  sergeant,  was  the  chief  prosecutor.  The 
principal  witnesses  were  Duffy  and  McMoyer,  two 
friars,  whom  he  had  been  forced  to  degrade  for  their 
vices.  The  charge  was,  that  he  had  conspired  to  bring 
in  the  French  at  Carlingford,  and  to  raise  another  Irish 
rebellion.  The  "  discoverers  "  of  course  swore  roundly. 
The   primate,  who  made  his  own  defence,  contended, 

I.  That,  by  law,  he  should  have  been  trier*  in  Ireland. 

II.  That,  a  copy  of  th(^  indictment  being  refused  him,  he 
could  have  no  defence  ready.  III.  That  at  least  he 
should  be  allowed  time  to  bring  his  witnesses  over  from 
Ireland.  After  his  clear  and  able  demonstration  of  the 
legality  of  the  trial,  the  following  remarkably  scene 
took  place:  — 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


147 


**  Lord  Chief  Justice,  "Well,  you  have  nothing  fur- 
ther to  say  in  bar  of  judgment:  you  have  said  all 
you  can? 

"  Plunkett.  I  have  nothing  further  to  say  but  what  I 
"  have  said. 

"  [Then  proclamation  was  made  for  silence,  while 
"judgment  was  passing  upon  the  prisoner.] 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice,  sLook  you:  Mr.  Plunkett,  you 
"  have  been  here  indicted  of  a  very  great  and  heinous 
"crime  —  the  greatest  and  most  ^heinous  of  all  crimes; 
"  and  that  is  high  treason ;  and  truly  yours  is  treason  of 
"  the  highest  nature ;  it  is  a  trieason,  in  truth,  against  God 
"  and  your  king,  and  the  country  where  you  lived.  You 
"  have  done  as  much  as  you  could  to  dishonor  God  in 
"  this  case ;  for  the  bottom  of  your  treason  was  your 
"  setting  up  your  false  religion,  than  which  there  is  not 
"  any  thing  more  displeasing  to  God  or  more  pernicious 
"  to  mankind  in  the  world  —  a  religion  that  is  ten  times 
"  worse  than  all  the  heathenish  superstitions ;  the  most 
"  dishonorable  and  derogatory  to  God  and  his  gloiy  of 
"all  religions  or  pretended  religions  whatsoever;"  for  it 
"  undertakes  to  dispense  with  God's  laws,  and  to'  pardon 
"  the  breach  of  them.  So  that  certainly  a  greater  crime 
"  there  cannot  be  committed  against  God  than  for  a  man 
"  to  endeavor  the  propagation  of  that  religion :  but  you, 
"  to  effect  this,  have  designed  the  death  of  our  lawful 
"  prince  and  king ;  and  then  your  design  of  blood  in  the 
"  kingdom  where  you  lived,  to  set  all  together  by  the 
"  ears,  to  destroy  poor  innocent  people,  to  prostitute  their 
"  lives  and  liberties,  and  all  that  is  dear  to  them,  to  the 
"  tyranny  of  Rome  and  France,  and  that  by  introducing 
"  a  French  army.  What  greater  evil  can  be  designed 
"  by  any  man  ?  I  mention  these  things  because  they 
"  have  all  been  proved  against  you,  and  that  you  may 
"  take  notice  and  repent  of  them,  and  make  your  peace 
*•  with  God  by  a  particular  application  for  mercy  for  all 
"  these  faults ;  for  it  seems  to  me  that  against  God,  your 
"  prince,  and  fellow-subjects,  you  have  behaved  yourself 
"  very  ill,  designing  very  great  evil  to  all  these ;  and  now 
"  it  hath  pleased  God  to  bring  you  to  judgment     I  must 


\% 


148 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


i  a 


"  tell  you,  peradventure,  what  you  urge  for  yourself  might 
"induce  pity  if  it  were  to  be  believed;  that  is,  that  you 
"  are  innocent;,  and  had  witnesses  to  prove  it:  but  we 
"  cannot  suppose  any  man  innocent  that  hath  had  a  legal 
"  and  fair  trial,  and  a  trial  with  as  much  candor  to  you 
"  as  your  case  could  bear,  or  as,  perhaps,  any  man  in 
"  such  a  case  ever  had.  You  had  time,  upon  .your  re- 
"  quest,  to  send  for  your  witnesses  to  help  you  in  your 
"  defence,  and  to  prove  your  innocence,  if  you  could  have 
"  done  it;  time  long  enough  to  your  own  content;  you 
"  yourself  thought  it  so  at  the  time  it  was  given.  To 
"  give  a  prisoner,  under  vour  circumstances,  five  or  six 
~  "  weeks*  time  to  send  fer  witnesses,  is  not  usual ;  we 
"  could  have  put  you  upon  a  present  defence,  and  hurried 
"  you  out  of  the  world  by  a  sudden  trial,  if  we  had  had 
"  any  design  against  you ;  but  we  go  on  in  a  fair  way, 
"  and  with  legal  proceedings,  and  with  such  a  respect  to 
"  you  as  in  such  a  case  could  be  used,  for  we  gave  you 
"  all  the  fair  hearing  and  liberty  that  you  desired  to  have. 
"  Look  you,  as  to  what  you  urge,  that  your  trial  was  in 
"  this  kingdom,  whereas  your  defence  was  in  another; 
that  is  a  thing  that  does  not  become  you  by  any  means 
to  object,  for  you  have  had  a  trial  here  by  honest  per- 
sons, and  that  according  to  the  laws  which  obtain  in 
this  kingdom,  and  that,  too,  in  Ireland,  which  is  by  a 
statute  not  made  on  purpose  to  bring  you  into  a  snare, 
but  an  ancient  statute,  and  not  without  precedence  of 
having  been  put  in  execution  before  your  time;  for 
your  own  country  will  afford  you  several  precedents  in 
"  this  case,  as  O'Rourk,  and  several  others  that  have  been 
"  arraigned  and  condemned  for  treason  done  here.  So 
"  that  you  have  no  reason  to  except  against  the  legality 
"  of  your  trial.  You  say,  now  you  have  witnesses  that 
"  could  prove  all  this  matter ;  why,  that  lies  in  the  mouth 
"  of  every  man  that  is  condemned  to  say ;  but  pray  con- 
"  sider  with  yourself  what  regard  ought  to  be  given  to 
"  this.  We  cannot  help  it  if  your  witnesses  do  not 
'*  come;  you  may  remember  they  wanted  not  time  nor 
**  opportunity  to  conne  over;  but  you  told  us  they  would 
"  riot  come,  unless  they  had  a  passport. 


u 

u 
i( 
u 
u 
u 


w 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


149 


*^  Plunkett  My  lord,  they  got  a  pass  to  come  over 
(<  afterwards,  and  so  in  eight  days  they  came  hither. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  You  might  have  provided  your- 
^  self  if  they  wanted  such  a  thing.  In  the  first  place, 
<'  nobody  is  bound  to  give  it  them,  much  less  could  you 
«  expect  it  for  them  without  asking. 

<'  Plunkett.  I  could  not  get  the  copies  of  the  records, 
"  neither,  by  any  means,  unless  I  had  an  order  from  the 
"  council ;  and  they  would  not  give  that  order,  unless 
«  your  lordship  appointed  it. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  We  cannot  tell  that ;  you  should 
"  have  petitioned  in  time. 

^'  Plunkett,  How  could  any  one  foresee,  unless  he  was 
"  God  Almighty,  that  they  would  deny  it,  or  that  he 
"  could  not  get  out  a  copy  of  a  recora,  paving  for  it, 
<'  without  a  petition.  All  the  friends  I  had  told  me,  upon 
"  motion  there,  it  might  be  had ;  but  here  I  have  it  under 
"  the  lieutenant's  and  council's  hands  that  they  would 
"  give  no  cop^'  of  records  without  order  from  home, 
"  which,  hefoi  y  J  luld  know  it,  it  was  impossible  for  me 
"  to  have  them      My  against  my  trial. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Look  you,  sir,  I  do  speak  this 
"  to  you,  to  show  you  that  those  objections  which  you 
"  mean  to  make  against  your  trial  have  no  weight  at 
"  all;  but  in  this  case  it  is  not  the  jury  that  are  so  ma- 
"  terial  as  the  witnesses  themselves.  I  appeal  to  all 
"  that  heard  your  trial,  if  they  could  so  much  as  doubt 
"  but  that  you  were  guilty  of  what  you  were  charged 
"  with.  For,  consider,  here  were  persons  of  your  own 
"  religion,  the  most  of  them  priests,  I  think  almost  all  of 
"  them  in  orders. 

"  Plunkett.  There  were  two  friars  and  a  priest,  whom 
"  I  have  endeavored  to  correct  seven  years,  and  they  were 
*'  renegades  from  your  religion,  and  dastard  apostates. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Look  you,  sir;  they  gave  an  evi- 
"  dence  very  home  to  your  matter ;  you  had  liberty  to  ex- 
"  amine  them,  and  they  gave  you  a  rational  account  of 
"  any  thing  you  asked.  Let  me  put  you  in  mind  of  one 
"  thing.  You  made  exceptions  to  one's  evidence,  (and 
"  indeed  that  was  very  much  of  your  exceptions  to  all,) 
13 


!.■. 


150 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


"  why  he  did  not  reveal  this  in  all  that  time.  TVuly  he 
"  told  you  he  was  of  your  mind  till  he  went  into  France, 
"  and  saw  what  slavery  and  mischief  you  endeavored  to 
<<  introduce  upon  his  and  your  countrymen ;  and  this  hi3 
<^  spirit  rose  against,  to  see  what  a  condition  Ireland  was 
<'  like  to  be  brought  into.  And  pray,  did  he  not  give.you 
"  a  full  answer  to  your  question  ? 

"  Plunkelt.  I  had  sufficient  witnesses  to  prove  he  was 
**  an  apostate,  and  was  chastised  by  me,  and  therefore 
'*  had  prepensed  malice  against  me. 

*'  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Therefore  I  have  spoken  this  to 
*^  the  satisfaction,  I  hope,  of  yourself  and  all  that  hear  it. 
"  I  do  now  wish  you  to  consider  you  are  near  your  end. 
"  It  seems  you  have  lived  in  a  false  religion  hitherto :  it 
"'  is  not  too  late  at  any  time  to  repent ;  I  wish  you  may 
'^  have  the  grace  to  do  so.  In  the  mean  time,  there  is 
"  no  time  for  us  here  to  grant  you  any  kind  of  metcy, 
"  though  I'll  tell  you  we  are  inclined  to  pity  all  maleiac- 
"  tors ;  whoever  have  done  evil,  we  are  inclined  to  pity 
"  them,  and  wish  heartily  that  they  may  repent,  as  we  do 
"  that  you  may  of  what  you  have  done.  But  all  we  can 
"  do  now  is  to  say  what  the  law  says,  and  that  is,  to  pass 
"  judgment  upon  you. 

"  Plunkett.  May  it  please  your  lordship  to  give  me 
"  leave  to  speak  one  word.  If  I  were  a  man  that  had  no 
"  care  of  my  conscience  in  this  matter,  and  did  not  think 
"  of  God  Almighty,  or  conscience,  or  heaven,  or  hell,  I 
"  might  have  saved  my  life,  for  I  was  offered  it  by  divers 
"  people  here,  so  I  would  but  confess  my  own  guilty  and 
"  accuse  others.  But,  my  lord,  I  had  rather  die  ten  thou- 
"  sand  deaths  than  wrongfully  accuse  any  body.  And  the 
"  time  will  come  when  your  lordship  will  see  what  those 
"  witnesses  are  that  have  come  in  against  me.  I  do  as- 
"  sure  your  lordship,  if  I  were  a  man  that  had  not  good 
"  principles,  I  might  easily  have  saved  my  life ;  but  I 
"  had  rather  die  ten  thousand  deaths  than  wrongfully  lo 
"  take  away  one  farthing  of  any  man's  goods,  one  day  of 
"  his  liberty,  or  one  minute  of  his  life. 

"  Lord  Uhief  Justice.  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  persist  in 
**  the  principles  of  that  religion. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


151* 


*'  Plunkett.  They  are  those  principles  that  even  God 
^  Almighty  cannot  dispense  withal. 

^^  Lord'  Chief  Justice.  Well,  however,  the  judgment 
"  which  we  must  give  you  is  that  which  the  law  says 
«  and  speaks.  And  therefore  you  must  go  from  hence 
"  to  the  place  from  whence  you  came,  that  is,  to  New- 
"  gate,  and  from  thence  you  shall  be  drawn  through  the 
"  city  of  London  to  Tyburn ;  there  you  shall  be  hanged 
"  by  the  neck,  but  cut  down  before  you  are  dead,  your 
"  bowels  shall  be  taken  out  and  burned  before  your  face, 
"  your  head  phall  be  cut  off,  and  your  body  be  divided 
"  into  four  quarters,  to  be  disposed  of  as  his  majesty 
"  pleases ;  and  I  pray  God  to  have  mercy  upon  your  soul. 

"  Plunkett.  My  lord,  I  hope  I  may  have  this  favor,  of 
«  leave  for  a  servant  and  some  few  friends  I  have  to  come 
"  to  me. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  I  think.you  may  have  liberty  for 
"  any  servant  to  come  to  you.  I  know  nothing  to  the 
"  contrary. 

"  Plunkett.     And  some  few  friends  that  I  have  in  town. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  But  I  would  advise  you  to 
"  have  some  minister  to  come  to  you,  some  Protestant 
"  minister. 

"  Plunkett.  My  lord,  if  you  please,  there  are  some  in 
"  prison  that  never  were  indicted  on  account  of  any 
"  crime,  and  they  will  do  my  business  very  well ;  for  they 
"  will  do  it  according  to  the  rites  of  our  own  church, 
"  which  is  the  ancient  usage ;  they  cannot  do  it  better, 
"  and  I  will  not  alter  it  now. 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Mr.  Richardson,  you  may  let 
"  his  servant  come  to  him,  and  any  friend,  in  your  pres- 
"  ence,  to  see  there  be  no  evil  done,  nor  any  contrivances 
"  that  may  hereafter  have  an  influence  upon  affairs. 

"  Justice  Jones.    Be  you  present,  or  somebody. 

^^  Plunkett.  My  servant,  I  hope,  may  come  without 
"  his  being  present 

"  Lord  Chief  Justice.  Yes,  yes ;  his  servant  may  be 
"  with  him.  Well,  sir,  we  wish  better  to  you  than  you 
"  do  to  yourself. 

"  Plunkett.     God  Almighty  bless  your  lordship.    And 


f , 


i'  ^  I 


152 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


I  • 


**  noW)  my  lord,  as  I  am  a  dead  man  to  this  world,  and 
**  as  I  hope  for  mercy  in  the  other  world,  I  was  never 
"  guilty  of  any  of  the  treasons  laid  to  my  charge,  as  yon 
"  will  hear  in  time ;  and  my  character  you  may  receive 
*^  £rom  my  lord  chancellor  of  Ireland,  my  Lord  Berkeley, 
"  my  Lord  Essex,  and  my  Lord  Ormond.'' 

Firepared  for  death  by  Father  Ckirker,  one  of  his  fellow- 

Jrisoners,  he  went  cheerfully  to  execution,  on  the  Ist  of 
uly,  1681,  and  was  beheaded,  embowelled,  and  quar- 
tered "  according  to  law,"  on  Tyburn  green.  Some  relics 
of  this  holy  martyr  are  now  preserved  at  the  Sienna 
CQUvent,  in  Drogheda.  His  betrayers,  one  after  another 
perished  miserably.* 

About  the  time  of  the  primate's  execution,  one  whose 
life  was  often  attempted  in  vain,  by  the  same  suborned 
set  who  brought  Dr.  Plunkett  to  the  block,  perished  by 
a.  treacherous  device  of  the  lord  lieutenant.  The  duke, 
having  by  some  meand  got  into  the  secret  of  this  gentle- 
man's private  affairs,  employed  one  William  Lucas,  "  to 
whom  he  gave  such  private  instructions "  as  procured 
him  an  interview  with  his  victim  on  the  25th  of  April, 
1681.  Lucas,  seizing  the  opportunity,  shot  him  through 
the  heart. 

Redmond  O'Hanlon,  or  Count  O'Hanlon,  (such  was 
the  title  of  the  murdered  man,)  was  the  representative  of 
a  noble  Irish  family.  Educated  abroad,  he  was  a  soldier 
t>y  disposition  pnd  training,  an  accomplished  musician, 
and  a  poet  From  his  camp,  amid  the  Mourne  Moun- 
tains, he  governed  Louth  and  Down,  and  commanded 
the  passes  from  Dublin  to  the  north.  His  passport  was 
better  obeyed  than  a  royal  writ,  and  bis  laws  were  more 
respected  than  the  acts  of  the  Parliament.  He  i^  remem- 
bered still,  in  the  traditions  of  Ulster,  as  the  Cromwellians' 
«courge,  the  protector  of  the  poor,  and  a  gallant,  finished 
gentleman.     His  assassination  is  the  last  consummate 

♦  See  his  life,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Croly  of  Maynooth,  Dublin,  published 
by  James  Duffy.  Dr.  Pluaikett  is  stated  by  his  biographer  and  by  Bishop 
Cinalloner  to  be  the  last  martyr  who  publicly  suffered  for  the  faith  in 
Great  Britain.  This  is  incorrect.  Father  Maloney,  or  Father  Nicholas 
Sheehy,  of  Clonmel,  was,  probably,  the  last. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


153 


crime  that  we  shall  have  to  record  against  the  memory 
of  Oraiond.* 

Other  men  and  other  councils,  were  to  prevail  for  a 
season  in  both  kingdoms,  and  this  old  but  not  venerable 
viceroy  was  to  drain  beside  his  grave,  the  bitter  cup  of 
exile,  administered  so  often  by  his  hand  to  other  and 
better  men. 


CHAl     h:r 


AOCESSIOK  OF  JAMES  IL  — TALBOT,  LORD  DEPUTY.  -  IRISH  SOL- 
DIERS IN  ENOLAND.- INVASION  OF  WILLIAM  HL— IRISH  PAR- 
LIAMENT OP  1686.  — "NO    POPERY"   RIOTS    IN    LONDON "THB 

IRISH  NIGH1\"— THE  WAR  IN  IRELANDl 

King  Charles,  died  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother, 
James,  in  168^.  Unlike  the  rest  of  his  house,  James 
.  had  given  hostages  to  the  Catholics.  To  be  their  friend 
he  had  forfeited  the  confidence  of  a  powerful  party  in 
England,  and  his  constancy  to  principle  during  the  last 
stormy  years  of  his  brother's  reign  had  deservedly  earned 
him  their  confidence  and  gratitude. 

Though  secretly  a  Catholic,  the  king  was  compelled 
by  the  circumstances  of  his  country  to  moderate  his 
zeal.  From  the  beginning,  his  reign  is  remarkable  for  a 
divided  policy.  In  a  speech  to  the  privy  council,  after 
his  coronation,  he  declared  his  confidence  in  the  loyalty 
of  the  established  church.  Soon  after,  he  avowed  to 
Louis  and  the  Pope  his  design  speedily  to  restore  the 
Catholic  religion.      He   sent  the  younger   Clarendon, 

*  Attempts  have  been  made  under  English  influences  to  degrade  the 
historical  character  of  Count  O^Hanlon.  In  such  accounts  he  is  repre- 
sented as  an  earlier  Rob  Roy,  or  Freney,  No  lie  could  be  much  farther 
from  the  truth  than  this.  He  was,  .of  course,  adjudged  an  *'  outlaw ''  by 
English  tribunals,  but  was  so  in  the  sense  that  partisan  chicfii,  4ike 
^^malacaraguia  and  Cabrera,  were  <' outlawed"  by  the  ruling  power  ia 
Spain.  Hereward  le  Wake,  William  Wallace,  and  the  American  Gen- 
eral Marion*  wa«  just  suck  outlswa  m  Bedmdnd  O'HiudOti. 


li'f- 


154 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


brother  of  his  first  wife,  as  viceroy  to  Dublin,  and  ap- 
pointed  Richard  Talbot,  agent  of  the  Irish  Catholics 
twenty  years  before,  commander  of  the  forces  in  Ireland. 
These  half  measures  abated  the  confidence  of  the  pope, 
of  France,  and  the  Irish  Catholics.  At  the  same  time 
they  revived  a  Protestant  party,  and  kept  it  alive.  His 
first  course  was  to  temporize ;  but  neither  friends  nor 
enemies  could  permit  this.  Committed  by  his  own 
agents,  encouraged  by  Louis,  and  drawn  on  by  the  oppo- 
sition, he  was  soon  obliged  to  adopt  more  decided 
measures,  and  to  face  the  armed  .apprehensions  he  had 
prematurely  aroused.  His  coronation,  with  its  first  flush 
of  popularity,  was  hardly  over,  when  ht  came  to  sterner 
work.  In  1686,  Clarendon  was  recalled,  and  with  his 
eldei  brother,  Rochester,  dismissed  the  privy  council. 
Lords  Dover,  Belayses,  Arundel,  and  Powis,  all  Catho- 
lics, were  appointed  to  the  first  offices  in  England,  eind 
Richard  Talbot,  crea1;ed  Earl  of  Tyrconnel,  was  ap- 
pointed lord  deputy  of  Ireland. 

Talbot,  a  titular  Catholic  of  ancient  family,  was  not 
deficient  in  talents.  He  had  been  a  hard  liver  in  his 
youth,  and  had  seen  many  changes  of  fortune.  In  a 
proverbially  corrupt  court,  he  had  lived  in  intrigue,  and 
had  earned  an  evil  notoriety.  He  brought  to  the  govern- 
ment of  Ireland  the  swaggering  hardihood  of  the  Cava- 
liers, an  exhausted  constitution,  a  diplomatic  intellect, 
and  a  hearty  detestation  of  the  Puritans.  The  experi- 
ence of  nearly  half  a  century  had  convinced  him  that 
the  only  hope  of  the  king  and  the  Catholics  was  in  a 
remodelled  army,  and  a  determined  policy.  If  James 
had  been  as  resolute  a  king  as  Tyrconnel  was  a  viceroy, 
the  revolution  would  have  begun  with  very  different 
odds,  if  it  ever  did  begin. 

James,  as  an  Englishman,  was  doubtful  of  the  native 
Irish ;  and  as  a  Stuart,  he  was  mortally  afraid  of  a  Par- 
liament. Without  TyrconnePs  inbred  audacity,  he 
agreed  with  all  his  arguments,  but  adopted  hot  one  of 
his  conclusions.  In  this  way,  by  hesitation  and  timidity, 
he  defeated  the  most  zealous,  and,  up  to  a  certain  point, 
the  most  useful  of  his  ministers.. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


155 


It  has  been  a  traditional  policy  at  Dublin  Castle  to 
make  the  Irish  viceroyalty  a  fulcrum  of  operations  in 
British  politics.  This  policy  was  tried  in  the  wars  of 
the  Roses,  1>y  Richard,  duke  of  York,  and  by  Marearet 
of  Burgundy;  it  was  imitated  by  Strafford,  and  by 
Cromwell,  and  was  now  taken  up  by  King  James.  The 
present  object  was  to  raise  in  Ireland  the  standing 
army,  which  England  jealously  resisted,  and  to  send  the 
companies,  as  they  were  drilled,  across  the  Channel.  Ac- 
cordingly, Tpconnel,  in  1685,  commenced  remodelling 
the  army,  filling  the  ranks,  and  giving  commissions  to 
Irish  officers.  A  thousand  Puritan  families,  taking 
alarm  at  this  prospect,  fled  from  Dublin;  but  the  older 
Protestants  remained  undisturbed,  and  the  panic  of  the 
Cromwellians  was  found  to  be  entirely  groundless.  The 
Irish  Catholics  were  not  less  tolerant  in  the  reign  of 
James — with  the  accumulated  wrongs  of  a  century  to 
avenge  —  than  they  had  been  in  the  reign  of  Philip  and 
Mary.  The  voluminous  memoirs  of  those  times  do  not 
record  a  single  outrage  upon  Protestant  life  or  property 
during  the  time  the  king,  the  viceroy,  and  the  army  were 
Catholic. 

On  one  point  alone  was  there  any  ground  for  Protes- 
tant apprehension  — •  a  repeal  of  the  act  of  settlement  of 
1660.  A  majority  of  those  plundered  under  this*  law, 
and  of  those  who  received  the  spoils,  were  still  aUve. 
The  wrong  was  not  beyond  remedy,  and  many  enter- 
tained hopes  of  recovering  part,  or  all,  their  ancient  pos- 
sessions. When  Tyrconnel  first  arrived,  he  declared 
the  settlement  unalterable ;  but  as  the  party  breach  grew 
wider  between  the  king^s  friends  and  enemies,  he  began 
to  hint  at  inquiry  and  restoration.  No  such  intention 
was  really  cherished  by  James :  like  all  his  family,  he 
preferred  English  to  Irish  interests,  and  the  English 
Roman  Catholics,  in  his  ministry,  "  were  unanimous  in 
favor  of  the  act  of  settlement."  *  In  this  state  of  agi- 
tation were  both  parties  kept,  during  Monmouth's  inva- 
sion and  the  subsequent  years,  until  the  Irish  Catholic 

*  Macaulay's  History  of  England,  yoL  ii.  p.  113,  (Boston  edition.) 


am  >f '     ' 


rl 


"ll 


II 


■ 


156 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THB 


Parliament  of  1689  finally  disposed  of  the  question  by 
rejecting  a  proposal  to  amend  or  alter  the  act  of  set- 
tlement. 

Ir  lie  battle  of  Sedgemoor,  in  1685,  Patrick  Sarsfield, 
a  gallant  cavalry  officer,  and  others  of  his  countrymen, 
appeared  on  the  Icing's  side,  and  aided  in  the  suppression 
of  Monmouth*s  insurrection.  From  that  period  forth, 
Irish  recruits  were  sought  after  to  fill  vacancies  in  the 
English  ranks.  The  political  events  of  1686  and  1687, 
urged  the  king  to  still  further  military  preparations.  In 
the  latter  year,  he  ordered  entire  Irish  companies  to  be 
landed  at  Chester  and  Bristol,  and  quartered  in  different 
garrison  towns.  This  measure  alarmed  all  the  worst 
passions  of  the  English.  The  vilest  lies  of  1641  were 
reprinted  from  the  Puritan  broadsheets,  and  scattered 
through  London  and  the  country.  The  doggerel  lines, 
known  as  "  Lillibulero !  "  which  attributed  all  manner  of 
vices  to  the  Irish  character,  were  sung  in  all  directions, 
British  officers  made  the  most  offensive  distinctions  be- 
tween the  soldiers  of  the  different  nations,  and,  when 
called  to  acc(!>unt  for  their  conduct,  openly  or  secretly 
sold  themselves  to  William,  Prince  of  Orange. 

This  prince,  married  to  Mary,  James's  daughter,  inher- 
ited the  ability  of  an  able  house,  with  an  accumulation 
of  its  unticrupulous  ambition.  At  the  age  of  manhood 
he  was  distinguished  as  a  captain  and  statesman.  Not 
only  had  he  preserved  Holland  against  all  the  power  of 
Louis  XIV.,  but  he  cherished  a  far  weightier  design  —  the 
conquest  of  England.  His,  court  was,  for  many  years, 
the  refuge  of  all  the  malecontents  of  his  father-in-law's 
government.  Monmouth,  Argyle,  Burnet,  and  Sunder- 
land successively  found  patronage  and  protection  at  the 
Hague.  His  passive  wife,  an  accomplice  to  the  dishonor 
of  her  own  bed,  allowed  her  name  to  be  freely  used  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  her  husband,  even  to  the  ruin 
of  her  father.  In  1688,  when  the  scheme  of  the  Dutch 
invasion  was  ripe,  William  was  in  his  thirty-eighth  year, 
and  one  of  the  most  famous  public  characters  in  Europe. 

In  October  of  that  year  he  sailed  from  Helvoetsluys, 
and  on  the  5th  of  November,  landed  at  Torbay,  with  a 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


157 


chosen  army  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  men,  ample  mu- 
nitions and  funds,  and  some  of  the  best  officers  in  the 
world. 

Strange  tendency  of  history  to  repeat  itself!  Six 
hundred  years  before,  another  William  crossed  the  same 
strait.,  with  the  same  design,  and  was  equally  successful 
in  the  conquest  of  Britain!  Four  hundred  years  before, 
the  founder  of  the  Tudor  dynasty  took  the  same  course, 
with  the  same  purpose  and  equal  good  fortune ! 

From  William's  voyage  downwards,  we  find  a  Jac- 
obite and  a  Williamite  party  in  British  politics.  In 
William's  army  were  the  Earls  of  Macclesfield,  Shrews- 
bury, Danby,  and  Clarendon,  of  the  British  peerage; 
Churchill,  Kirke,  Grafton,  and  other  officers  deserted  to 
him  on  his  march  from  Torbay  to  London ;  the  other 
son-in-law  of  the  king.  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  and 
his  wife,  the  Princess  Anne,  joined  the  invaders,  and 
abandoned  their  father.  The  bishops  of  the  established 
church  went  with  the  peerage  ;  and  so  William  the  Con- 
queror reached  the  capital  without  other  military  oppo- 
sition than  a  skirmish  or  two  by  the  way. 

William's  first  success  was  due  to  James's  irresolution. 
He  could  not  bring  himself  to  distrust  his  enemy,  nor  to 
trust  his  friends.  He  negotiated,  while  William  ad- 
vanced, under  shelter  of  the  negotiation,  from  post  to  post. 
Despairing  of  a  successful  resistance,  he  decided  on  sav- 
ing his  family.  Two  French  and  three  Irish  officers  vol- 
unteered to  conduct  the  queen  and  the  young  prince 
(afterwards  called  James  III.)  to  France.  They  suc- 
ceeded in  their  design,  and  on  the  11th  day  of  December, 
James  himself  fled  in  disguise  fron\  London,  after 
throwing  the  great  seal  into  the  Thames.  At  Christmas, 
he  rejoined  his  family  in  France. 

The  Catholic  nobles,  people,  and  soldiery,  especially 
those  of  Irish  origin,  were  now  left  in  a  critical  position. 
Orange  ribbons  (first  used  to  decorate  the  High  Street, 
of  Oxford,  for  William's  entrance)  flaunted  from  every 
window  which  let  in  light  to  loyalty ;  "  Lillibulero," 
was  the  chant  of  the  revolution ;  "  tory"  (the  Irish  for 
robber)  was  the  contejuptuous  term  applied  to  the 
14 


158 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


Jacobites,  who  retorted  on  their  opponents  the  Scottish 
nickname  of  "  whig." 

The  night  of  the  king's  escape,  the  fanatical  spirit  of 
Oates's  time  broke  out  at  London.  The  cry  of  "  No 
Popery  "  was  raised  in  the  streets  and  courts,  "  on  the 
longest  night,  as  it  chanced,  of  tlie  year."  The  rabble 
of  the  slums  and  mews  came  forth  to  plunder  and  kill, 
while  the  bigots  of  better  condition  joined  in  and  di- 
rected  the  work  of  outrage.  The  ambassadors  of  Spain 
and  Venice,  had  their  houses  and  chapels  burned  to  the 
ground ;  the  French  ambassador  had  obtained  a  strong 
guard,  and  protected  himself.  The  Catholic  churcheii 
were  rifled  and  set  on  fire.  The  ornaments  of  the  altar, 
the  vestments  of  the  priests,  and  ^*a  great  mountain 
of  books,"  were  made  into  a  bonfire  at  Clerkenwell, 
round  which  men  and  women,  drunk  and  blackened 
with  smoke,  danced  and  shrieked  out  blasphemy.  The 
first  fury  of  "the  reformation"  had  hardly  produced 
such  a  scene. 

A  panic  as  abject  as  the  riot  was  cowardly  suc- 
ceeded. General  Feversham,  false  to  his  royal  master 
and  his  own  honor,  had  disbanded  the  Irish  soldiers  pre- 
vious to  going  over  to  the  invaders.  A  rumor  was 
spread  through  London,  as  the  riot  flagged,  that  these 
soldiers  were  marching  upon  the  city.  The  Londoners 
continued  under  arms,  to  the  number  of  twenty  thou- 
sand. The  night  of  the  13th  of  December  was  long  re- 
membered by  them  as . "  the  Irish  night,"  during  which 
it  was  expected  the  disbanded  soldiers  were  to  sack  the 
city,  murder  the  men,  ravish  the  women,  and  eat  up  the 
children  alive. 

"  No  Popery  "  riots  spread  through  England.  "  The 
houses  of  many  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen  were  at- 
tacked. Parks  were  ravaged ;  deer  were  slain  and 
stolen."  A  self-appointed  police  rendered  the  roads  im- 
passable to  Papists.  The  bigotry  of  the  days  of  Eliza- 
beth was  revived  in  shire  towns  and  among  the  country 
gentry.  The  Catholics  of  Lancashire,  were  especially 
persecuted.  Lord  Powis  and  other  Catholic  nobles  fled 
for  safety  into  France.     Bishops  Leyburn  and  Gillis, 


PROT£STANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND.      159 

and  a  great  number  of  clergymen,  were  flung  into  the 
Tower  and  the  provincial  prisons.  The  pope's  nuncio 
escaped  disguised  as  a  servant,  in  the  train  of  the  Duke 
of  Savoy's  ambassador. 

The  Irish  Catholic  soldiers,  dispersed  in  various  coun- 
ties, were  deprived  of  leaders  and  of  efficiency.  They 
refused,  however,  to  surrender  tamely.  At  Tilbury, 
headed  by  one  of  their  own  number,  they  resisted  the  Wil- 
liamites  commanded  by  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  but  were 
overpowered,  and  .their  brave  leader  shot.  At  Wincan- 
ton,  Sarsfield's  cavalry  gave  a  severe  handling  to  Gen- 
eral Mackay's  advance  guard.  At  Reading,  in  a  con- 
test with  some  Dutch  troops  and  the  inhabitants,  an 
Irish  regiment  lost  fifty  men  and  their  colors.  Two  '■  un- 
dred  Irish  soldiers,  having  seized  an  East  Indiaman  in 
the  Thames,  but  unable  to  find  a  pilot,  were  driven 
ashore  at  Gravesend,  and  gallantly  defended  themselvr:8 ; 
after  a  heavy  loss,  the  remnant  surrendered.  Other 
groups,  more  fortunate,  found  their  way,  through  many 
dangers  and  hardships,  to  the  Irish  Sea,  and  procured 
passage  to  their  own  country.  The  majority,  however, 
were  transferred  to  the  Austrian  service,  through  the 
politic  arrangements  of  King  William.  Surely  it  is  a 
contrast  on  which  history  will  not  fail  to  dwell  —  the 
heroic  constancy  and  devotion  of  these  men  to  their 
colors,  as  contrasted  with  the  perjury,  treason,  and  in- 
gratitude of  the  English  peerage,  and  the  bishops  of  the 
establishment. 

While  the  "No  Popery"  riots  were  mging  in  Eng- 
land, and  William  debated  at  London  whether  he  would 
claim  the  crown  by  "right  of  conquest,"  or  recer  e  it  at 
the  hands  of  a  convention  of  the  estates,  the  p '.rljsans 
of  James,  at  Dublin,  were  neither  in  despair  nor  idle. 
The  convention  at  London  was  "making  title"  for 
William ;  the  Duke  of  Perth,  and  other  Scotch  Jacobites, 
had  abandoned  Scotland  to  the  prince ;  but  Ireland  still 
held  out  for  her  king.  True,  he  Had  been  uo  very  zeal- 
ous friend  to  her  interest ;  true,  his  family  had  confiscat- 
ed, within  a  century,  two  thirds  of  the  island,  to  enrich 
those  very  English  and  Scotch  who  now  deposed  him. 


lb 


i 


M 


m 


'T' 


160 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


I 


k  '1 


Still  he  was  a  Stuart,  descended  through  Fleahce,  Fer- 
gus, and  Malcom,  from  Milesius  himself;  he  was  a 
Catholic,  and  was  suffering  for  his  faith ;  he  was  a 
friend  of  France,  the  friend  of  Ireland ;  he  was  a  king, 
and  in  exile ;  his  queen  and  heir  had  been  intrusted  to 
Irish  fidelity,  and  his  army  had  been  principally  recruited 
by  Irishmen.  These  reasons,  the  policy  of  Tyrconnel, 
the  assurances  from  France,  and  the  fame  of  Sarsfield, 
constituted  James's  popularity  in  Ireland. 

On  the  13th  of  February,  1689,  William  and  Mary 
were  declared  King  and  Queen  of  "  England,  France,  and 
Ireland,"  at  Whitehall.  On  the  12th  of  March,  James 
landed  from  France,  at  Kinsale,  with  about  one  hundred 
French  officers,  and  twelve  hundred  English  and  Irish 
refugees.  In  June,  William  despatched  Kirke,  with  six 
thousand  men,  to  Derry,  and  Schomberg,  with  fourteen 
thousand,  to  Carrickfergus.  Thus  this  memorable*  con- 
test was  transferred  to  freland  by  both  the  parties. 

James  began  his  career  in  Ireland  with  a  Parliament 
Since  the  great  court  which  elected  Henry,  in  1541,  the 
Parliaments  at  Dublin  were  called  at  the  king's  pleasure; 
but  after  the  expulsion  of  the  recusants,  in  1620,  there 
was  no  free  representation  of*  the  people,  through  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  1644,  the  Irish  Commons  had 
shown  some  independence  in  the  impeachment  of  Straf- 
ford, and  had  ordered  Chancellor  Bolton  to  answer  Ser- 
geant Maynard's  book,  contending  for  the  supremacy  of 
the  Parliament  of  England.  The  same  year,  it  passed 
an  act  naturalizing  the  Scots,  in  Ulster.  During  Crom- 
well's time,  the  Long  Parliament  legislated  for  the  three 
kingdoms ;  but  after  the  restoration,  the  Irish  Parliament 
was  revived.  In  1661,  it  wa^  engaged  in  reversing  cer- 
tain outlawries,  and  in  1662,  it  ratified  the  English  "  act 
of  settlement,"  prepared  by  Sir  Heneage  Finch.  In 
1663,  it  \oted  £30,000  to  the  Duke  of  Ormond,— a 
bonus  on  the  act  of  settlement,  —  and  adjourned.  In 
1676,  there  WPS  a  partial  national  representation,  but  it 
was  overpowered  by  the  Puritan  party. 

As  soon  as  James  reached  Dublin,  writs  were  issued 
for  a  new  Parliament.     A  fortnight  from  his  landing, 


!,  Fer- 
^as  a 
was  a 
Lking, 
ited  to 
3ruited 
jonnel, 
jsfield, 

[  Mary 
ce,  and 
James 
undred 
d  Irish 
nth.  six 
biiiteen 
jle^con- 
i. 

lament 
541,  the 
easure; 
0,  there 
igh  the 
)ns  had 
f  Straf. 
rev  Set- 
nacy  of 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


161 


Crom- 
le  three 
liament 
ing  cer- 
sh  "  act 
ch.  In 
nd,  —  a 
ed.  In 
but  it 

5  issued 
anding, 


there  assembled  at  the  inns  of  court,  in  that  city,  the 
most  national  assembly  which  had  been  convoked  since 
the  days  of  the  good  old  recusants.  For  boroughs  and 
counties,  O' Neils,  O'Connors,  O'Kellys,  O'Briens,  and 
O'Moores  sat,  with  the  children  of  the  Bamwalls,  Plun- 
ketts,  Butlers,  and  Fitzgeralds.  The  king's  cabinet  was 
in  harmony  with  the  legislature.  Tyrconnel,  viceroy, 
Chief  Justice  Nugent,  Baron  Rice,  Attorney  General 
Nagle,  Solicitor  Henry  O'Reilly,  and  the  principal 
French  officers,  with  a  few  of  the  English  nobility,  sat  in 
this  council.  Advised  by  these,  and  aided  by  the  Par- 
Uament,  he  adopted  a  policy  which  thirty  thousand 
Irish  soldiers  were  prepared  to  defend.  Among  the 
laws  of  this  legislature  —  all  passed  during  April  and 
May — were  an  act  declaring  the  Parliament  of  Ireland 
independent  of  that  of  England ;  an  act  to  annul  pat- 
ents for  life;  an  act  concerning  martial  law;  an  act 
taxing  absentees;  an  act  regulating  tithes;  and  other 
useful  and  substantial  laws.* 

An  act  introduced  by  Chief  Justice  Nugent,  for  the 
amendment  of  the  act  of  settlement,  was  rejected  by  a 
large  majority.f 

During  the  sitting  of  Parliament,  James  made  several 
Irish  peers.  Tyrconnel  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  a 
duke,  Justin  McCarthy  was  made  Lord  Mountcashel, 
and  Patrick  Sarsfield  Earl  of  Lucan. 

The  military  preparations,  in  the  interim,  went  on. 
The  principal  Irish  proprietors  had  raised  regiments  of 
their  own  tenants,  and  equipped  them ;  some  better,  some 
worse.  There  were  four  regiments  of  O' Neil's  tenants, 
two  of  O'Brien's,  two  of  O' Kelly's,  and  one  each  of 
O'Donnell's,  McMahon's,  Magennis's,  Fitzgerald's,  De 
Courcey's,0'More's,  Nugent's,  St.  Lawrence's,  Maguire's, 


*  James  was  supported  by  a  great  body  of  Catholics,  who,  though 
they  were  called  Catholics,  were  not  slaves ;  for  they  obtavied  a  conati- 
tutionfrom  him  before  they  accompanied  him  to  the  field.  —  Grattan'a  Me- 
moirs, vol.  i.  p.  12. 

t  Proceedings  of  the  Parliament  in  Ireland,  beginning  March  25, 
1689,  and  ending  June  following.  London,  1689.  In  the  British 
Museum. 

14* 


162 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


i    ii 


and  Sarsfield's.  The  French  and  English  officers,  De  Ro- 
sen, Pusignan,  Boisselleau,  and  Lauzan,  as  well  as  Shel- 
don, Hamilton,  and  other  English  or  Scotch  gentlemen, 
had  high  command  in  the  new  army,  but  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  native  officers,  where  they  could  be  obtained, 
and  were  qualified  by  service. 

At  the  opening  of  the  first  campaign,  in  1689,  the 
military  position  each  party  occupied  was  this  :  All 
the  west  was  in  the  hands  of  James's  adherents;  Ul- 
ster, Carrickfergus,  Coleraine,  Derry,  and  the  fort  of 
Culmore,  were  held  by  the  "  Scotch-Irish,"  for  William; 
in  Leinster  and  Munster,  the  principal  places  had  de- 
clared for  King  James.  When,  therefore,  William  landed 
at  Carrickfergus,  the  line  of  his  first  operations  plight 
be  drawn  froni  Lough  Erin  to  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne ; 
that  is,  from  Enniskillen,  through  Cavan  and  Meath,  to 
Drogheda.  \ 

Li'^utenant  Greheral  Hamilton,  James's  commander  in 
Ulster,  after  beating  the  enemy,  under  Montgomery  and 
Lundy,  at  Dromore  and  Cladysfort,  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  Coleraine,  and  placed  a  garrison  there  under 
Colonel  O'More;  Charlemont  was  garrisoned  and  com- 
manded by  Captain  O' Regan;  Colonel  Dundee  abb,n- 
doned  Culmore,  and  sailed  to  England ;  and  Derry  had 
sent  to  propose  terms,  when  James,  on  coming  to  the 
camp,  refused  to  listen  to  "  his  rebels,"  and  thus  drove 
Derry  to  its  desperate  and  gallant  defence.  The  siege 
was  undertaken  without  a  siege  train,  and  Derry,  natu- 
rally and  artificially  strong,  held  out  until  the  Williamite 
General  Kirke  entered  the  harbor  with  six  thousand 
men,  and  abundant  stores,  and  relieved  the  brave  in- 
habitants. 

After  James  reached  Hamilton's  camp,  every  thing 
went  wrong.  Near  Dundalk,  after  raising  the  siege  of 
Derry,  he  came  up  with  Marshal  Schomberg,  who  had 
got  enclosed  in  an  unfavorable  position,  with  pestilence 
decimating  his  men.  Instead  of  attacking  him,  James 
manoeuvred,  and  in  October  went  invo  winter  quarters. 
On  this  occasion,  De  Rosen  exclaimed,  "  If  your  majes- 
ty had  a  hundred  kingdoms,  you  would  lose  them  all." 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


163 


He  sent  a  cavalry  detachment  to  Cavan  to  dislodge  four 
times  their  number,  and  was  surprised  to  hear  they  were 
beaten ;  being  told  that  the  pass  of  Slane  was  an  im- 
portant place,  he  ordered  "  tifty  dragoons "  to  be  sent 
"towards  it,"  and  committed  a  hundred  other  errors. 
Misfortunes,  and  the  vile  ingratitude  of  his  children  and 
nobles,  had,  besides,  made  him  so  irritable,  that  he  would 
hear  no  reason  till  the  mischief  was  past,  and  then  he 
would  blame  every  one  but  himself. 

Having  virtually  abandoned  the  northern  line  of  de- 
fence, (formed  by  Lough  Erin,  the  Cavan  lakes,  and 
the  Boyne,)  De  Rosen  advised  the  king  to  fall  back  on 
the  line  of  the  Shannon  as  his  base  of  operations.  James 
rejected  this  advice,  and  prepared  for  another  northern 
campaign  the  following  spring. 

In  June,  1690,  William,  in  person,  took  the  command 
of  his  troops  in  Ulster,  and  began  his  march  towards 
Dublin.  James  marched  northward  to  meet  him,  re- 
solved, at  the  wrong  moment,  to  fight.  In  war,  as  in 
poUtics,  indecision  was  his  ruin.  He  again  hesitated  to 
send  forward  a  detachment  to  defend  the  passes  beyond 
,  the  Boyne ;  and  when,  at  last,  he  consented  to  do  battle, 
his  adversary  had  thirty-six  thousand  veterans  and  a 
powerful  artillery  against  his  twenty  thousand  raw  re- 
craits,  six  thousand  French,  and  three  or  four  field 
pieces.  Against  these  odds,  and  the  greater  military 
disparity  of  the  leaders,  the  battle  of  the  Boyne  was 
fought,  and  lost.  On  the  evening  of  that  hard-fought 
but  sorrowful  day,  well  might  the  veteran  Captain 
O'Regnn  exclaim  to  the  Williamites,  "  Change  kings, 
and  we'll  fight  it  over  again  !  " 

At  the  Boyne,  William  lost  Schomberg,  Caillemote, 
and  other  distinguished  officers,  and  five  thousand  men. 
James  suffered  an  equal  loss  in  rank  and  file,  three 
colors,  and  one  cannon.  General  Hamilton  was  among 
William's  prisoners.  James  only  remained  long  enough 
in  Dublin  to  vent  his  ill  humor,  and  appoint  Tyrconnel 
lord  lieutenant.  He  then  proceeded  in  haste  to  Wa- 
terford,  and  embarked  for  France,  to  return  no  more. 

Dublin  was  abandoned  by  the  viceroy  as  speedily  as 


■  :i 


164 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


by  the  king.  The  line  of  the  Shannon  was  fallen  back 
upon,  and  Limerick  and  Athlone  became  the  chief  ob- 
jects of  attack  and  defence.  The  former  successfully 
resisted  a  first  siege  directed  by  William  himself,  in 
August  of  this  year.  By  a  brilliant  countermarch,  Sars- 
field  surprised  his  siege  train-  at  Cullin,  and  destroyed 
the  guns.  This  obliged  the  raising  of  the  siege,  which 
was  abandoned  till  the  next  year.  At  Athlone,  General 
Douslas  was  also  compelled  to  abandon  the  first  siege. 

William  returned  to  England,  and  despatched  Chur- 
chill, Earl  of  Marlborough,  with  additional  forces  and 
artillery,  into  Munster.  Cork  and  Kinsale  were  taken ; 
but  in  the  winter  operations  in  Kerry  and  Clare,  De 
Ginkle  was  defeated,  with  heavy  loss. 

The  third  campaign  opened  very  differently  from  the 
first.  The  whole  north  and  east  of  Ireland  was  now 
in  William's  hands,  and  all  the  resources  of  Holland 
and  England  at  his  back.  From  Lough  Foyle  to^  Kin- 
sale,  the  eastern  coast  was.  in  his  keeping ;  and  his 
powerful  army  wanted  no  supply  necessary  to  soldiers. 
Tyrconnel  and  De  Lausan,  on  James's  side,  had  visited 
France  for  instructions,  as  had  the  agents  of  the  Irish 
officers,  dissatisfied  with  the  plan  of  the  previous  cam- 
paigns. .  To  remove  all  difficulties.  General  St.  Ruth 
was  sent  by  Louis  and  James  as  commander-in-chief  of 
the  army  in  Ireland. 

The  Protestant  army  commencea  operations  in  June, 
under  De  Ginkle,  and  took  by  storm  Pally  more  and 
Athlone,  both  of  which  were  bravely  defended.  On  the 
12th  of  July,  both  armies  met  at  Aughrim,  and  again 
William  triumphed.  St.  Ruth,  who  had  refused  to 
communicate  the  plan  of  the  battle  to  a  council  of 
war,  fell ;  every  Irish  regiment  left  more  than  half  of  its 
numbers  among  the  dead.  Galway  and  Sligo,  alarmed 
at,  this  intelligence,  surrendered  at  discretion.  Limerick 
was  again  besieged  on  the  5th  of  August ;  and  on  the 
13th,  the  famous  capitulation  called  "the  tlreaty  of 
Limerick  "  was  agreed  to  by  the  commissioners  of  both 
armies. 

Twenty-nine  of  the  articles  of  this  treaty  related  to 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


166 


the  military.  They  were  to  have  permission  to  emigrate 
to  France,  or  to  enlist  with  William.  Almost  to  a  man, 
they  preferred  exile  to  treason.  With  Sarsfield,  four 
thousand  five  hundred  sailed  from  Cork  ;  with  D'Usson, 
four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-six  from  Lim- 
erick; with  Wauchop,  about  three  thousand  from  the 
same  place.  Other  regiments,  under  their  own  com- 
manders, as  Burke's,  Dillon's,  and  O'Brien's,  also  emi- 
grated. In  all,  nineteen  thousand  and  fifty-six  fighting 
men  arrived  that  year  in  France.  They  were  formed 
into  twelve  French  regiments,  and  retained  their  own 
officers,  where  their  after  career  can  be  traced  in  a  blaze 
of  victory.  In  process  of  time,  their  exploits,  as  We 
shall  see,  exercised  a  decided  influence  on  the  fortunes 
of  those  they  left  behind. 

Thus  was  dispersed  the  last  Catholic  army  of  Ireland, 
and  with  it  the  military  defence  of  the  church  of  St. 
Patrick.  A  century  and  a  half  of  warfare  closes  with 
the  fall  of  Limerick ;  the  direct  succession  of  the  Cath- 
olic soldiers  ends  with  Sarsfield.  The  lawyers  who 
debated  and  the  delegates  who  signed  "the  treaty  of 
Limerick  "  are  the  pale  forerunners  of  a  new  day  and  a 
new  order.  The  pen,  and  voice,  and  human  learning 
are  to  be  the  only  visible  defences  of  the  church  in 
Ireland,  through  many  an  age  of  trial,  reserved  for  its 
faithful  children. 


CHAPTER  in. 


BEIGN   OP  WILLIAM   III VIOLATION    OF  THE   TREATY    OP   LIM- 

EBICK.- PROSCRIPTION  OP  THE  BISHOPS  AND  CLERGY. -FUR- 
THER CONFISCATIONS  OP  CATHOLIC  PROPERTY. 

The  civil  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Limerick  were  in 
relation  to  the  rights  of  Catholics.  Art.  i.  guarantied 
them  "  such  privileges  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion  as 
are  consistent  with  the  law  of  Ireland,  or  as  they  en- 
joyed in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II. ; "  also,  this  article 


h  ii! 


lee 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


I   » 


undertook  that  "  their  majesties,  as  soon  as  their  affairs 
will  permit  them  to  summon  a  Parliament  in  this  king« 
dom,  will  endeavor  to  procure  the  said  Roman  Catholics 
such  further  security  in  that  particular  as  may  preserve 
them  from  any  disturbance  on  account  of  their  said  re- 
ligion." Art.  ii.  guarantied  pardon  and  ^'»rotection  to  all 
who  h9f4  served  King  James,  on  taking  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance prescribed  in  art.  ix.,  as  follows :  — 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  promise  and  swear  that  I  will 
be  faithful  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  their  majesties, 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary ;  so  help  me  God." 

Arts,  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  and  vi.  extended  the  provisions  of 
arts.  i.  and  ii.  to  merchants  and  other  classes  of  men. 
Art.  vii.  permits  "  every  nobleman  and  gentleman  com- 
promised in  the  said  articles "  to  carry  side  arms,  and 
keep  "  a  gun  in  their  houses."  Art.  viii.  gives  the  right 
of  removing  goodt  and  chattels  without  search.  ^  Art 
ix.  is  as  follows :  —  ' 

"  The  oath  to  be  administered  to  such  Roman  Catho- 
lics as  submit  to  their  majesties'  government  shall  be 
the  oath  aforesaid,  and  no  other.^^ 

Art.  X.  guaranties  that  "no  person  or  persons  who 
shall,  at  any  time  hereafter,  break  these  articles,  or  any 
of  them,  shall  thereby  make  or  cause  any  other  person  or 
persons  to  forfeit  or  lose  the  benefit  of  them."  Arts.  xi.  and 
xii.  relate  to  the  ratification  of  the  articles  "  within  eight 
months  or  sooner."  Art.  xiii.  refers  to  the  debts  of 
"  Colonel  John  Brown  to  several  Protestants,"  and  ar- 
ranges for  their  satisfaction. 

On  King  William's  part,  the  treaty  is  signed  by  Lord 
Scravenmore,  Generals  Mackay,  Talmash,  and  De  Gin- 
kle,  and  the  Lords  Justices  Porter  and  Coningsby. 

On  the  Irish  side,  the  signers  are  Sarsfield,  Earl  of 
Lucan,  Viscount  Galmoy,  Sir  Toby  Butler,  and  Colonels 
Purcel,  Cusack,  Dillon,  and  Brown. 

The  date  is  October  3,  1691.* 


*  •«  And  whereas  the  said  city  of  Limerick  hath  been  since,  in  pursu- 
ance of  the  said  articles,  surrendered  unto  us :  Now,  know  ye,  that 
we,  having  considered  of  the  said  articles,  are  graciously  pleased  hereby 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


167 


A  few  days  after  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  and  before 
the  English  or  outer  town  was  delivered,  a  French  fleet 
entered  the  Shannon,  "  with  thirty  thousand  arms,  one 
thousand  men,  two  hundred  officers,  ammunition  and  pro- 
vision ; "  but  Irish  honor  was  proof  against  the  trial 
thus  put  upon  it.  In  Dublin,  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
were  displeasing  to  the  Puritans ;  but  William  received 
them  with  evident  pleasure.  De  Ginkle  had  three  earl- 
doms given  him,  and  a  medal  was  struck,  commemo- 
rating the  event,  virith  the  motto,  "  Limerica  capta^  Hi- 
hernia  stibacta,  Octobris,  1691." 

to  declare,  that  we  do  for  us,  our  heirs,  and  successors,  os  far  as  in  ub 
lies,  ratify  and  confirm  the  same,  and  every  clause,  matter,  and  thin^ 
therein  contained.  And  as  to  such  parts  thereof,  for  which  an  act  ox 
Parliament  shall  be  found  to  be  necessary,  we  shall  recommend  the 
same  to  be  made  good  by  Parliament,  and*  shall  give  our  royal  assent  to 
any  bill  or  bills  that  shaU  be  passed  by  our  two  houses  of  Parliament  to 
that  purpose.  And  whereas  it  appears  unto  us,  that  it  was  agreed 
between  the  parties  to  the  said  articles,  that  after  the  words  Limerick, 
Clare,  Kerry,  Cork,  Mayo,  or  any  of  them,  in  the  second  of  the  said 
articles ;  which  words  having  been  casually  omitted  by  the  writer,  the 
articles,  the  words  following,  viz.  '  And  all  such  as  are  under  their  pro- 
tection in  the  said  counties,'  should  be  inserted,  and  bo  part  of  the  said 
omission,  was  not  discovered  till  after  the  said  articles  >Yere  signed,  but 
was  taken  notice  of  before  the  second  town  was  surrendered,  and  that 
our  said  justices  and  general,  or  one  of  them,  did  promise  that  the  said 
clause  should  be  made  good,  it  being  within  the  intention  of  the  capitu- 
lation, and  inserted  in  the  foul  draft  thereof :  Our  further  will  and 
pleasure  is,  and  we  do  hereby  ratify  and  confirm  the  said  omitted  words, 
viz.,  '  And  all  such  as  are  under  their  protection  in  the  said  counties,' 
hereby  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  ordaining  and  declaring  that  all 
and  every  person  and  persons  therein  concerned  shall  and  may  have, 
receive,  and  enjoy  the  benefit  thereof,  in  such  and  the  same  manner  as 
if  the  said  words  had  been  inserted  in  their  proper  place  in  the  said 
second  article,  any  omission,  defect,  or  mistake  in  the  said  second  tgrticle 
in  any  wise  notwithstanding.  Provided  always,  and  our  will  and  pleas- 
ure is,  that  these  our  letters  patents  shall  be  enrolled  in  our  court  of 
chancery,  in  our  said  kingdom  of  Ireland,  within  the  space  of  one  year 
next  ensuing.  In  witness,  &c.,  witness  ourself  at  Westminster,  the 
twenty-fourth  day  of  February,  anno  regni  regis  et  reginse  Gulielmi  & 
Marise  quarto  per  breve  de  privato  sigillo.  Nos  autem  tenorem  premissor. 
predict.  Ad  requisitionem  attorn  at.  general,  domini  regis  et  dominee 
regin«  pro  regno  Hibernian.  Duximus  exemplificand.  per  presentes.  In 
cujus  rei  testimonium  has  literas  nostras  fieri  fecimus  patentes.  Testibus 
nobis  ipsis  apud  Westmon  quinto  die  Aprilis,  annoq.  regni  eorum  quarto. 

BttlDOES. 

Examinat.  (  S.  Keck.  )  Jn  Cancel. 

per  nos,  |  Lacoit  Wm.  Chude.    )  Magiatror" 


if 


m, 


I  l,ik    III 


I 


|ii> 
»*•¥ 


168 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


The  Catholic  army  once  well  away  from  the  Irish 
shore,  the  sovereigns  and  the  Parliament  began  to  tam- 
per with  the  treaty.  The  following  year,  an  oath  of 
allegiance,  altogether  different  from  that  prescribed  by 
art  ix.,  was  enacted  by  Parliament,  and  approved 
by  William.  In  this  oath,  the  Catholic  was  called  on 
to  swear  he  did  not  believe  "  that  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  supper  there  is  any  transubstantiation  of  the 
elements;"  "that  the  invocation  or  adoration  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  or  any  other  saint,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  as  they  are  now  used  in  the  church  of  Rome,  an 
damnable  and  idolatrous."  An  "  oath  of  abjuration  "  was 
framed  in  the  following  session,  binding  Cathol  "  to 
abhor,  detest,  and  abjure,  as  impious  and  heretical,  that 
damnable  doctrine  and  position,  that  princes  excommu- 
nicated  or  deposed  by  the  pope,  or  any  authority  of  the 
see  of  Rome,  may  be  deposed  and  murdered  by  their 
subjects ; "  furthermore,  obliging  them  to  swear  that  no 
foreign  prince,  person,  or  prelate  "hath  any  jurisdic- 
tion, power,  superiority,  preeminence,  or  authority,  epcle- 
siastical  or  spirilualj  within  this  realm."  Here  were 
two  flagrant  violations  of  the  second  and  ninth  articles, 
and,  indeed,  of  the  whole  treaty. 

But  bad  faith  did  not  stop  even  here.  The  Dublin 
Parliament,  made  up  chiefly  of  bigots  and  mere  adven- 
turers, settled  after  the  late  war,  passed  an  act,  in 
1694,  "  for  the  confirmation  of  articles  made  at  the  sur- 
render of  Limerick,"  which  actually  abolished  those  arti- 
cles altogether.  This  act  did  not  recite  the  articles,  in 
whole  or  p^,  but,  in  the  words  of  the  lords'  protest, 
"  altered  both  their  sense  and  meaning,"  and  left  "  those 
in  whose  favor  they  were  granted  in  a  worse  position 
than  before."  This  protest  was  signed  by  the  Lords 
Londonderry,  Tyrone,  and  Duncannon,  by  the  Protes- 
tant Bishops  of  Elphin,  Derry,  Clonfert,  Killala,  and  the 
Barons  of  Ossory,  Limerick,  Killaloe,  Kerry,  Howth, 
Kingston,  and  Strabane.  Still  the  act  passed,  and  re- 
ceived the  seal  and  signature  of  William  and  Mary. 

That  ancient  instrument  of  oppression,  a  commission 
to  inquire  into  defective  titles,  shortly  issued,  and  decreed 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


169 


that  1,060,792  acres  were  forfeited  to  the  crown.  This 
was  the  last  fragment  of  the  patrimonv  of  the  faithful 
Catholic  inhabitants.  When  King  William  died,  there 
did  not  remain  to  the  class  which,  a  century  before, 
owned  three  fourths  of  the  Irish  soil,  above  "  one  sixth 
part "  of  what  their  grandfathers  held  in  fee.* 

The  penal  code  of  Elizabeth  and  the  Stuarts  was 
revived,  and  new  and  worse  disabilities  enacted  in  addi- 
tion. By  the  7th  of  William  III.  cap.  4,  no  Papist 
could  keep  a  school,  or  teach  in  private  families,  except 
the  children  of  the  family ;  no  Papist  could  bear  arms, 
contrary  to  the  express  terms  of  art.  vii.  of  the  treaty ; 
by  the  same  statute,  to  send  a  child  beyond  seas  was  a 
felony,  the  case  to  be  tried  by  a  justice,  not  by  a  jury, 
and  the  burden  of  proof  to  fall  on  the  accused.  By  the 
9th  William  III.  cap.  3,  mixed  marriages  were  forbid- 
den, and,  if  either  parent  were  a  Protestant,  "  the  chil- 
dren could  be  taken  from  the  other  to  be  reared  in  that 
faith."  No  Papist  could  be  a  legal  guardian  —  the 
court  of  chancery  to  appoint  one,  and  educate  the  ward 
a  Protestant.  By  the  same  statute,  rewards  were  fixed 
for  informers  against  the  violators  of  those  laws,  the 
amount  to  "  be  levied  on  the  Papist  inhabitants  of  the 
county."  Such  was  the  way  in  which  King  William, 
of  pious  and  immortal  memory,  perjured  his  own  soul, 
and  avenged  himself  on  a  gallant,  defeated  enemy.f 

The  condition  of  the  Irish. church  at  William's  death 


*  Bedford's  Compendious  and  Impartial  View  of  the  Laws  affecting 
Roman  Catholics.    London,  1829,  p.  15. 

t  In  defence  of  the  intentions  of  William,  it  has  heen  stated  that  he 
persecuted  less  from  zeal  or  temper  than  to  propitiate  the  native  bigotry 
of  his  new  kingdom.  At  one  time  he  had  a  proclamation  prepared,  and 
even  printed,  guarantying  the  Irish  Catholics  *'  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion,  half  the  church  establishment,  and  the  moiety  of  their  ancient 
properties."  This  document,  called  "the  secret  proclamation,"  was 
"  suppressed  on  the  first  intelligence  of  the  treaty  of  limeribk." —  Moore's 
Captain  Rock,  p.  118,  where  John  Dryden  is  quoted,  as  a  contemporary 
witness,  that  William  "  was  most  un\nlling  to  persecute,"  but  was  driven 
to  do  so  by  the  ultra  Protestants,  headed  by  Dr.  Tennison,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  His  resistance  to  the  bigots  does  ijot  seem  to  have  been 
very  vigorous  or  protracted,  and  we  see  no  good  reason  to  relieve  his 
memory  of  the  ocUum  that  must  attach  to  it  on  account  of  Ireland^ 

15 


:l 


Hi  " 


170 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    TJiE 


was  truly  lamentable.  In  1688  and  1689,  it  had  received 
a  great  accession  of  pastors  and  religious  from  abroad. 
In  Dublin,  Limerick,  and  other  cities,  monasteries  had 
been  restored,  and  churches  reedified.  When  the  mili- 
tary emigration  took  place,  a  few  of  the  clergy  accom- 
panied it ;  but  the  rest  remained,  trusting  to  tne  treaty 
for  protection.  Betr  'een  1696  and  1699,  four  hundred 
and  ninety-five  secular  and  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  regular  clergymen  were  banished  the  kingdom,  and 
even  the  poor  nuns  had  to  fly.  At  Ypres,  Lisbon,  and 
Antwerp,  they  gathered  themselves  again  into  commu- 
nity, adding  the  sorrow  of  exile  to  the  other  mortifica- 
tions of  their  lives.  Two  or  three  hundred  of  the  clergy 
only  remained,  and  they  were  hidden  in  "  holes  and 
corners.**  The  majnrHies  of  the  sees  were  administered 
by  vicars,  and  remained^  for  years  without  bishops. 

But  not  alone  did  ecclesiastics  feel  the  practical  effects 
of  the  violation  of  the  treaty.  There  was  still  ehough 
of  property  left  among  the  Catholics  to  repay  the  labors 
of  the  new  commissioners.  "  From  the  report  made  by 
the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Parliament  of  Eng- 
.  land  in  169&."  says  Lord  Clare,  "  it  appears  that  the  Irish 
subjects  outlawed  for  the  rebellion  of  1688  amounted  to 
3978 ;  and  that  their  Irish  possessions,  as  far  as  could  be 
computed,  were  of  the  annual  value  of  £211,623,  com- 
prising one  million  sixty  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-two  acres.  This  fund  was  sold  under  the  author- 
ity of  an  English  act  of  Parliament,  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses incurred  by  England  in  reducing  the  rebels  in 
1688 ;  and  the  sale  introduced  into  Ireland  a  new  set  of 
adventurers."  *  These  new  adventurers  were  chiefly  Ger- 
ijaaiji  Protestants,  whose  descendants  in  Munster  are 
known  as  "  Palatines"  until  this  day. 

We  need  not  wonder  that  among  the  few  Catholics 
of  property  mentioned  in  the  next  two  reigns,  scarce  any 
(if  we  except  Sir  Toby  Butler)  ventured  to  protest  against 
the  last  acts  of  this  national  perfidy. 


*  liord  ChanoelloT  Clare's  speech  on  the  Union. 
\800. 


Dublin,  (pamphlet,) 


WS^kKT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 

CHAPTER    IV. 


A 


m 


QUEEN  ANNE'S  BEION — •«ACT  TO  DISCOURAGE  THE  OROWTfi  OF 
FOPBRT."  —  SIR  TOBY  BUTLER  HEARD  AT  THE  BAR  OF  THE 
HOUSES  0F~  PARLIAMENT.  —  HIS  CHARACTER.  -  IMMENSE  EMI- 
GRATION. »  PRIEST   HUN  IING.  — PRIMATE    MCMAHON. 

» 

QuEEN  Anne  succeeded  William  in  1702.  In  the  next 
year,  according  to  the  law  of  Poynings,  <'  the  heads  of 
bills"  were  prepared  by  the  Irish  Parliament,  to  be  sent 
over  to  England.  Among  those  was  the  infamous  *<  act 
to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  Popery,"  which  pro- 
vided that  the  eldest  son  of  a  Catholic,  on  becoming  an 
apostate,  might  turn  his  father's  estate  into  a  tenantry 
for  life,  and  take  the  fee  simple  and  rental  to  himself. 
By  the  same  statute,  if  a  Catholic  inherited  property,  he 
should  conform  within  six  months  from  the  date  the 
title  accrued,  or  the  estate  be  forfeited  to  the  next  ^*  Prot- 
estant heir."  By  statute  of  the  same  year,  (2  Anne,  cap. 
3,  sec.  7,)  if  an  unregistered  priest  was  detected,  a 
heavy  fine  was  to  be  levied  on  the  county  in  which  he 
was  found,  and  the  proceeds  paid  over  to  the  informer 
or  detective.  Against  this  bill,  when  first  proposed  at 
Dublin,  the  few  remaining  Catholics  of  influence,  head- 
ed by  Viscount  Kingsland,  Colonels  Brown,  Burke,  and 
Nugent,  Major  Pat,  Allen,  and  Arthur  French,  peti- 
tioned. The  Parliament  proceeded,  and  the  bill  was 
returned  from  London  with  the  approval  of  the  queen 
and  her  couLcil.  The  Catholics,  advised  by  Sir  Toby 
Butler,  who,  with  a  few  others,  had  been  tolerated  in 
the  profession  of  law  through  family  interest,  renewed 
their  opposition  to  it 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1703,  Sir  Toby,  with  whom 
were  Sir  Stephen  Bice  and  Counsellor  Malone,  appeared 
at  the  bar  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  against 
the  bill  "to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  Popery." 
The  abstract  of  his  speech  on  that  occasion  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  documents  of  the  age.  It  is  full 
of  interest  and  information.   We  copy  from  it  at  length : 


.m 


'  i-n: 
•III 


1^  'I 


172 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  TUB 


**  Sir  Theobald  Butler  first  moved  and  acquainted  iu 
"  house,  that,  ^  by  the  permission  of  that  house,  he  wl 
*'  come  thither  in  behalf  of  himself,  and  the  rest  of  the 
**  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland  comprised  in  the  articles 
^*  of  Limerick  and  Oalway,  to  offer  some  reasons,  which 
^*  he  and  the  rest  of  the  petitioners  judged  very  material, 
"  against  passing  the  bill,  entitled  An  act  to  prevent  the 
*^  further  growth  of  Popery;  that,  by  leave  of  the  house, 
^*  he  had  taken  a  copy  of  the  said  bill,  (which  he  had 
"  there  in  his  hand,)  and,  with  submission,  looked  upon 
*^  it  to  tend  to  the  destroying  of  the  said  articles,  granted 
"  upon  the  most  valuable  considerations  of  surrendering 
"  the  said  garrisons,  at  a  time  when  they  had  the  sword 
**  in  their  hands ;  and,  for  any  thing  that  appeared  to  the 
"  contrary,  might  have  been  in  a  condition  to  hold  out 
**  much  lonser,  and*  when  it  was  in  their  power  to  de- 
<<  mand,  and  make  for  themselves,  such  terms  as  n^ight 
"  be  for  their  then  future  liberty,  safety,  and  security ; 
<*  and  that,  too,  when  the  allowing  such  terms  were 
*^  highly  idvantageous  to  the  government  to  which  they 
'<  submitted ;  as  well  for  uniting  the  people  that  were 
'*  then  divided,  quieting  and  settling  the  distractions  and 
"  disorders  of  this  then  miserable  kingdom,  as  for  the 
*<  other  advantages  the  government  would  thereby  reap 
"  in  its  own  affairs,  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  when  its 
"  enemies  were  so  powerful,  both  by  sea  and  land,  as  to 
*^  give  doubt  of  interruption  to  its  peace  and  settle- 
«  ment; 

*<  That,  by  such  their  power,  those  of  Limerick  did, 
*'  for  themselves,  and  others  comprised,  obtain  and 
"  make  such  articles,  as  by  which  all  the  Irish  inhabit- 
<*  ants  in  the  city  and  county  of  Limerick,  and  in  the 
*<  counties  of  Clare,  Kerry,  Cork,  Sligo,  and  Mayp,  had 
"  full  and  free  pardon  of  and  for  all  attainders,  outlaw- 
*'  ries,  treasons,  misprision  of  treasons,  felonies,  tres- 
"  passes,  and  other  crimes  whatever,  which  at  any  time 
<<  from  the  beginning  of  King  James  II,  to  the  3d  of 
"  October,  1691,  had  been  acted,  committed,  or  done 
"  by  them,  or  any  of  them ;  and  by  which  they  and 
"  their  heirs  were  to  be  forthwith  put  in  possession  of, 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


178 


and  forever  possess  and  enjoy,  all  and  every  of  their 
freeholds  and  Inheritance ;  and  all  their  rights,  titles, 
and  interests,  privileges  and  immunities,  which  they 
and  every  of  them  held  and  enjoyed,  and  by  the  laws 
in  force  were  entitled  unto,  in  the  reign  of  Kinff 
Charles  II.,  or  at  any  time  since,  by  the  laws  and 
statutes  that  were  in  force  in  that  reign,  d^.;  and 
thereupon  read  so  much  of  the  second  article  of  Lim- 
erick, as  tended  to  that  purpose. 
"  That,  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II.,  the  petitioners, 
and  all  that  were  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  those  articles, 
were  in  such  full  and  free  possession  of  their  estates, 
and  had  the  same  power  to  sell,  or  otherwise  to  dis- 
pose, or  convey  them,  or  any  other  thing  they  enjoyed ; 
and  were  as  rightfully  entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  im- 
munities, and  other  advantages  whatever,  according 
to  the  laws  then  in  force,  as  any  other  subjects  what- 
soever, and  which,  therefore,  without  the  highest  in- 
justice, could  not  be  taken  from  them,  unless  they  had 
forfeited  them  themselves.  / 
"  That  if  they  had  made  any  such  forfeiture,  it  was 

^  either  before  or  after  the  making  of  the  said  articles  : 
if  before,  they  had  a  full  and  free  pardon  for  that 
by  the  said  articles,  dz^c,  and,  therefore,  are  not  ac- 
countable by  any  law  now  in  force  for  the  same,  and 
for  that  reason  not  now  to  be  charged  with  it ;  and 
since  they  cannot  be  charged  with  any  general  forfeit- 
ure of  those  articles  since,  they  at  the  same  time  re- 
mained as  absolutely  entitled  to  all  the  privileges,  ad- 
vantages, and  benefits  of  the  laws,  botb  already  made 
and  hereafter  to  be  made,  as  any  other  of  her  majesty's, 
subjects  whatsoever. 

"  That  among  all  societies  there  were  some  ill  peo- 
ple ;  but  that,  by  the  10th  article  of  Limerick,  the  whole 
community  is  not  to  be  charged  with,  nor  forfeit  by,  the 
crimes  of  particular  persons. 

"  That  there  were  already  wholesome  laws  in  force 
sufficient,  and  if  not,  such  as  were  wanting  might  be 
made,  to  punish  every  offender  according  to  the  nature 

*  of  the  crime  :  and  in  the  name  of  God  let  the  guilty 
15* 


\il 


174 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


(( 


*'  suffer  for  their  own  faults ;  but  the  innocent  ought  not 
"  to  3uffer  for  the  guilty,  nor  the  whole  for  any  particu- 
"  lar.  That  surely  they  would  not  now  (they  had 
*'  tamely  got  the  sword  out  of  their  hands)  rob  them  of 
"  what  was  in  their  power  to  have  kept ;  for  that  would 
**  be  unjust,  and  not  according  to  that  golden  rule,  to  do 
"  as  they  would  be  done  by,  was  the  case  reversed,  and 
"  the  contrary  side  their  own. 

"  That  the  said  articles  were  first  granted  them  by  the 

general  of  the  English  army,  upon  the  most  important 
*<  consideration  of  getting  the  city  of  Limerick  into  his 
"  hands,  (when  it  was  in  a  condition  to  have  held  out 
"  till  it  might  have  been  relieved  by  the  succors  then  com- 
"  ing  to  it  from  France,)  and  for  preventing  the  further 
**  enusion  of  blood,  and  the  other  ill  consequences  which 
'*  (by  reason  of  the  then  divisions  and  disorders)  the 
<<  nation  then  labored  under ;  and  for  reducing  thos^  in 
<<  arms  against  the  English  government  to  its  obedience. 

"  That  the  said  articles  were  signed  and  perfected  by 
"  the  said  general,  and  the  then  lords  justices  of  this 
"  kingdom;  and  afterwards  ratified  by, their  late  majes- 
"  ties,  for  themselves,  their  heirs,  and  successors ;  and 
"  have  been  sinoe  confirmed  by  an  act  of  Parliament  in 
"  this  kingdom,  viz.,  stat.  9  Guil.  3,  ses.  4,  cap.  27, 
<<  (which  he  there  produv  ed  and  pleaded,)  and  said  could 
"  not  be  avoided  withbul  breaking  the  said  articles,  and 
"  the  public  faith  thereby  plighted  to  all  those  comprised 
"  under  the  said  articles,  in  the  most  solemn  and  enga- 
"  ging  manner  it  is  possible  for  any  people  to  lay  them- 
"  selves  under,  and  than  which  nothing  could  be  more 
"  sacred  and  binding.  That,  therefore,  to  violate,  or 
"  break  those  articles,  would,  on  the  contrary,  be  the 
"  greatest  injustice  possible  for  any  one  people  of  the 
"  whole  world  to  inflict  upon  another,  and  which  is  con- 
"  larary  to  both  the  laws  of  God  and  man. 

"  That,  pursuant  to  these  articles,  all  those  Irish  then 
"  in  arms  against  the  government  did  submit  thereunto, 
<<  and  surrendered  the  said  city  of  Limerick,  and  all 
**  other  garrisons  then  remaining  in  their  possession ; 
**  and  did  take  such  oaths  of  fidelity  to  the  king  and 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


175 


u 

u 

u 
u 
u 
u 

(( 
u 
u 
u 
II 
u 
u 
u 

u 
u 
u 
u 
u 
(( 
u 
u 
u 
u 
(( 
u 
a 
u 

(( 
u 
u 
li 

u 
u 
u 


queen,  &c.,  ka  by  the  said  articles  they  were  obliged 
to,  and  were  put  into  possession  of  their  estates,  &c. 
<^  That  such  their  submissions  was  upon  such  terms 
as  ought  now,  and  at  all  times,  to  be  made  good  to 
them  ;  but  that  if  the  bill  then  before  the  house,  enti- 
tied  An  act  to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  Popery, 
should  pass  into  a  law,  (which,  said  he,  God  forbid !) 
it  would  be  not  only  a  violation  of  t^ose  articles,  but 
also  a  manifest  breach  of  the  public  faith,  of  which 
the  English  had  always  been  most  tender  in  many  in- 
stances, some  of  which  he  there  quoted ;  and  that,  in 
particular,  in  the  preamble  of  the  act  before  mentioned, 
made  for  confirmation  of  these  articles,  wherein  there 
is  a  particular  regard  and  respect  had  to  the  public 
faith. 

*'  That  since  the  said  articles  were  thus  under  the 
most  solemn  ties,  and  for  such  valuable  considerations 
granted  the  petitioners,  by  nothing  less  than  the  gen- 
eral of  the  army,  the  lords  justices  of  the  kingdom,  the 
king,  queen,  and  Parliament,  the  public  faith  of  the 
nation  was  therein  concerned,  obliged,  bound,  and 
engaged,  as  fully  and  firmly  as  was  possible  for  one 
people  to  pledge  faith  to  another;  that,  therefore,  this 
Parliament  could  not  pass  such  a  bill  as  that  entitled 
An  act  to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  Popery,  then 
before  the  house,  into  a  law,  without  infringing  those 
articles,  and  a  manifest  breach  of  the  public  faith  ;  of 
which  he  hoped  that  house  would  be  no  less  regardful 
and  tender  than  their  predecessors,  who  made  the  act 
for  confirming  those  articles,  had  been. 
"  That  the  case  of  the  Gibeonites  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1)  was 
a  fearful  example  of  breaking  of  public  faith,  which, 
above  one  hundred  years  after,  brought  nothing  less 
than  a  three  years'  famine  upon  the  land,  and  stayed 
not  till  the  lives  of  all  Saul's  family  atoned  for  it 
"  That  even  among  the  heathens,  and  most  barbarous 
of  nations  all  the  world  over,  the  public  faith  had  al- 
ways been  held  most  sacred  and  binding ;  that  surely  it 
would  find  no  less  a  regard  in  that  august  assembly. 
''  That,  if  be  proved  that  the  passing  that  act  was  such 


176 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


({ 


a  manifest  breach  of  those  articles,  and,  consequently, 
"  of  the  public  faith,  he  hoped  that  honorable  house 
"  would  be  very  tender  how  they  passed  the  said  bill  be- 
"  fore  them  into  a  law,  to  the  apparent  prejudice  of  the 
*<  petitioners,  and  the  hazard  of  bringing  upon  them- 
*<  selves  and  posterity  such  evils,  reproach,  and  infamy, 
"  as  the  doing  the  like  had  brought  upon  other  nations 
"  and  people. 

<'  Now,  that  the  passing  such  a  bill  as  that  then  before 
"  the  house,  to  prevent  the  further  growth  of  Popery  will 
"  be  a  breach  of  those  articles,  and,  consequently,  of  the 
"  public  faith,  I  prove  (said  he)  by  the  following  argu> 
«  ment." 

Upon  all  these  propositions  the  great  orator  was  full 
and  cogent,  but  especially  upon  the  clause  which  held 
out  to  the  sons  of  Catholics  the  estates  of  their  fathers, 
as  a  reward  for  apostasy.      f  \ 

"  By  the  first  of  these  clauses,  (which  is  the  third  of  the 
"  bill,)  I,  that  am  the  Popish  father,  without  committing 
*^  any  crime  against  the  state,  or  the  laws  of  the  land, 
"  (by  which  only  I  ought  to  be  governed,)  or  any  other 
"  fault,  but  merely  for  being  of  the  religion  of  my  fore- 
"  fiathers,  and  that  which,  till  of  late  years,  was  the 
"  ancient  religion  of  these  kingdoms,  contrary  to  the 
"  express  words  of  the  second  artiple  of  Limerick,  and 
"  the  public  faith  plighted  as  aforesaid  for  their  perform- 
"  ance,  am  deprived  of  ray  inheritance,  freehold,  &c., 
"  and  of  all  other  advantages,  which,  by  those  arfci- 
'•  cles,  and  the  laws  of  the  land,  I  am  entitled  to  en- 
"  joyj  equally  with  every  other  of  my  fellow-subjects, 
"  whether  Protestant  or  Popish.  And  though  such  my 
"  estate  be  even  the  purchase  of  my  own  hard  labor  and 
"  industry,  yet  I  shall  not  (though  my  occasions  be 
"  never  so  pressing)  have  liberty  (after  my  eldest  son  or 
"  other  heir  becomes  a  Protestant)  to  sell,  mortgage,  or 
"  otherwise  dispose  of,  or  charge  it  for  payment  of  my 
"  debts ;  or  have  leave,  out  of  my  own  estate,  to  order 
"  portions  for  my  other  children ;  or  leave  a  legacy, 
"  though  never  so  small,  to  my  poor  father  or  mother,  or 
"  other  poor  relations ;  but  during  my  own  life,  my  estate 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


177 


^  shall  be  given  to  my  son  or  other  heir,  being  a  Protes- 
^  tant,  though  never  so  undutiful,  profligate,  extravagant, 
<*  or  otherwise  undeserving ;  and  I,  that  am  the  purchas* 
*^  ing  father,  shall  become  tenant,  for  life  only,  to  my  own 
<<  purchase,  inheritance,  and  freehold,  which  I  purchased 
"  with  my  own  money ;  and  such  my  son  or  other  heir, 
**  by  this  act,  shall  be  at  liberty  to  sell  or  otherwise  at 
«  pleasure  to  dispose  of  my  estate,  the  sweat  of  my 
^<  brows,  before  my  face;  and  I,  that  am  the  purchaser, 
^<  shall  not  have  liberty  to  raise  one  farthing  upon  the 
"  estate  of  my  own  purchase,  either  to  pay  my  debts  or 
"  portion  my  daughters,  (if  any  I  have,)  or  make  pro- 
*^  visions  for  my  other  male  children,  though  never  so 
**  deserving  and  dutiful :  but  my  estate,  and  the  issues 
*'  and  proiits  of  it,  shall,  before  my  face,  be  at  the  dis- 
«  posal  of  another,  who  cannot  possibly  know  how  to 
"  distinguish  between  the  dutiful  and  undutiful,  de- 
^'  serving  or  undeserving.  Is  not  this,  gentlemen,  (said 
**  he,)  a  hard  case  ?  I  beseech  you,  gentlemen,  to  con- 
"  sider,  whether  you  would  not  think  so,  if  the  scale 
<'  was  changed,  and  the  case  your  own,  as  it  is  like  to  b6 
*^  ours,  if  this  bill  pass  into  a  law. 

"  It  is  natural  for  the  father  to  love  the  child ;  but  we 
"  all  know  (says  he)  that  children  are  but  too  apt  and 
*'  subject,  without  any  such  liberty  as  this  bill  gives,  to 
*»  slight  and  neglect  their  duty  to  their  parents ;  and 
*'  surely  such  an  act  as  this  will  not  be  an  instrument  of 
*'  restraint,  but  rather  encourage  them  more  to  it. 

"  It  is  but  too  common  with  the  son,  who  has  i  r,ros- 
*'  pect  of  an  estate,  when  once  he  arrives  at  the  age  of 
"  one  and  twenty,  to  think  the  old  father  too  bng  in  the 
"  way  between  him  and  it;  and  how  much  i:ioie  will  he 
^'  be  subject  io  it,  when,  by  this  act,  he  shall  have  lib- 
"  erty,  before  he  comes  to  that  age,  to  compel  and  force 
"  my  estate  from  me,  without  asking  ray  leave,  or  being 
*'  liable  to  account  with  me  for  it,  or  out  of  his  share 
"  thereof,  to  a  moiety  of  the  debts,  portions,  or  other  en- 
*'  cumbrances,  with  which  the  estate  might  have  been 
*'  charged  before  the  passing  this  act ! 

''  Is  not  this  against  the  laws  of   God  and  man  ? 


,-i- 


s^ 


178 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISHl    THE 


"  against  the  rules  of  reason  and  justice,  by  which  all 
"  men  ought  to  be  governed  ?  Is  not  this  the  only  way 
"  in  the  world  to  make  children  become  undutiful  ?  and 
"  to  bring  the  gray  head  of  the  parent  to  the  grave  with 
"  grief  and  tears  ? 

"  It  would  be  hard  from  any  man ;  but  from  a  son,  a 
"  child,  the  fruit  of  my  body,  whom  I  have  nursed  in  my 
"  bosom,  and  tendered  more  dearly  than  my  own  life,  to 
become  my  plunderer,  to  rob  me  of  my  estate,  to  cut 
my  throat,  and  to  take  away  my  bread,  is  much  more 
grievous  than  from  any  other,  and  enough  to  make 
"  the  most  flinty  of  hearts  to  bleed  to  think  on  it.  And 
"  yet  this  will  be  the  case  if  this  bill  pass  into  a  law; 
"  which  I  hope  this  honorable  assembly  will  not  think 
"  of,  when  they  shall  more,  seriously  consider,  and  have 
"  weighed  these  matters. 

"  For  God's  sake,  gentlemen,  will  you  consider 
"  whether  this  is  according  to  the  golden  rule,  to  do 
"  as  you  would  be  done  unto  ?  And  if  not,  surely  you 
"  will  not,  nay,  you  cannot,  without  being  liable  to  be 
"  charged  with  the  most  manifest  injustice  imaginable, 
"  take  from  us  our  birthrights,  and  invest  them  in  others 
"  before  our  faces." 

Further,  he  arraigned  the  bill,  as  contrary  to  all  the 
laws  of  nations,  in  this  close  logical  style. 

"  Surely,  gentlemen,  thib  is  such  a  law  as  was  never 
"  heard  of  before,  and  against  the  law  of  right,  and  the 
"  law  of  nations ;  and  therefore  a  law  which  is  not  in  the 
power  of  mankind  to  make,  without  breaking  through 
ithe  laws  which  our  wise  ancestors  prudently  provided 
for  the  security  of  posterity,  and  which  you  cannot 
infringe  without  hazarding  the  undermining  the  whole 
legislature,  and  encroaching  upon  the  privileges  of 
"  your  neighboring  nations,  which  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
'♦  believe  they  will  allow. 

"  It  has  indeed  been  known  that  there  have  been 
"  laws  made  in  England  that  have  been  binding  in  Ire- 
"  land ;  but  surely  it  never  was  known  that  any  law 
"  made  in  Ireland  could  affect  England  or  any  other 
*'  country.    But,  by  this  act,  a  person  committing  matri* 


I 


a 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


179 


**  mony  (an  ordinance  of  the  Almighty)  in  England,  or 
«  any  other  part  beyond  the  seas,  (where  it  is  lawful 
"  both  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man  so  to  do,)  if  ever 
"  they  come  to  live  in  Ireland,  and  have  an  inheritance 
«  or  title  to  any  interest  to  the  value  of  £500,  they  shall 
"  be  punished  for  a  fact  consonant  with  the  laws  of  the 
« land  where  it  was  committed.  But,  gentlemen,  by 
"  your  favor,  this  is  what,  with  submission,  is  not  in 
"  your  power  to  do ;  for  no  law  that  either  now  is,  or 
« that  hereafter  shall  be  in  force  in  this  kingdom,  shall 
«  be  able  to  take  cognizance  of  any  fact  committed  in 
«  another  nation ;  nor  can  any  one  nation  make  laws  for 
"  any  other  nation,  but  what  is  subordinate  to  it,  as  Ire- 
«  land  is  to  England  ;  but  no  other  nation  is  subordinate 
"  to  Ireland,  and  therefore  any  laws  made  in  Ireland 
"  cannot  punish  me  for  any  fact  committed  in  any  other 
"  nation,  but  more  especially  England,  to  whom  Lre- 
"  land  is  subordinate.  And  the  reason  is,  every  jfree 
<'  nation,  such  as  all  our  neighboring  nations  are,  by  the 
"  great  law  of  nature,  and  the  universal  privileges  of  all 
"  nations,  have  an  undoubted  right  to  make,  and  be 
"  ruled  and  governed  by  laws  of  their  own  making ; 
"  for  that  to  submit  to  any  other  would  be  to  give  away 
"  their  own  birthright  and  native  freedom,  and  become 
"  subordinate  to  their  neighbors,  as  we  of  this  kingdom, 
"  since  the  making  of  Poynings's  act,  have  been  and  are 
"  to  England  —  a  right  which  England  would  never  so 
"  much  as  endure  to  hear  of,  much  less  to  submit  to. 

"  We  see  how  careful  our  forefathers  have  been  to 
"  provide  that  no  man  shall  be  punished  in  one  county 
"  (even  of  the  same  nation)  for  crimes  committed  in 
"  another  county ;  and  surely  it  would  be  highly  unrea- 
"  son  able,  and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  all  nations  in  the 
"  whole  world,  to  punish  me  in  this  kingdom  for  a  fact 
"  committed  in  England,  or  any  other  nation,  which  was 
"  not  against,  but  consistent  with,  the  laws  of  the  nation 
"  where  it  was  committed.  I  am  sure  there  is  not 
"  any  law  in  any  other  nation  of  the  v/orld  that  would 
«  do  it." 

In  conclusion.  Sir  Toby  contended,  — 


W  '■:< 


180 


ATTEMPTS   TO  B8TABLI»a   THS 


*^  The  ninth  clause  of  this  act  is  another  manifest 
**  breach  of  the  articles  of  Limerick ;  for,  by  the  ninth 
"  of  those  articles,  no  oath  is  to  be  administered  to,  nor 
**  imposed  upon,  such  Roman  Ciatholics  as  should  sub- 
**  mit  to  the  government,  but  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
«  appointed  by  an  act  of  Parliament  made  in  England, 
*^  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  their  late  majesties,  King 
"  William  and  Queen  Mary,  (which  is  the  S£uiie  witih 
^  the  first  of  those  appointed  by  the  tenth  clause  of  this 
**  act ;).  but  by  this  clause,  none  shall  have  the  benefit  of 
"  this  act  that  shall  not  conform  to  the  church  of  Ire- 
"  land,  subscribe  the  declaration,  and  take  and  subscribe 
"  the  oath  of  abjuration,  appointed  by  the  ninth  clause 
**  of  this  act;  and  therefore  this  act  is  a  manifest  breach 
**  of  those  articles,  &;c.,  and  a  force  upon  all  the  Rom^n 
"  Cii^bolics  therein  comprised,  either  to^ibjure  their  reli- 
^'  gion,  or  part  with  their  birthrights ;  which,  by  those 
"  arti<'les,  they  were,  and  are,  as  fully  and  as  rightfully  on- 
"  tiv    1  to  as  any  other  subjects  whatever. 

"  Tae  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  four- 
"  teenth  clauses  of  this  bill  (said  he)  relate  to  offices 
"  and  employments  which  the  Papists  of  Ireland  cannot 
"  hope  for  the  enjoyment  of,  otherwise  than  by  grace 
"  and  favor  extraordinary ;  and  therefore  do  not  so  much 
"  afiect  them  as  it  does  the  Protestant  dissenters,  who 
*'  (if  this  bill  pass  into  a  law):  are  equally  with  the 
"  rapists  deprived  of  bearing  any  office,  civil' or  military, 
"  under  the  government,  to  \7hich  by  right  of  birth,  and 
"  the  laws  of  the  land,  they.are  as  indisputably  entitled  aa 
**^  any  other  their  Protestant  brethren.  And  if  what  the 
"  Irish  did  in  the  late  disorders  of  this  kingdom  made 
"  them  rebels,  (which  the  presence  of  a  king  they  had 
**  before  been  obliged  to  ow]',  and  swear  obedience  to, 
"  gave  them  a  reasonable:  color  of  concluding  it  did  not,) 
"  yet  surely  the  disse]jtr;rs  did  nol  do  any  thing  to 
"  make  them  so,  or  to  deserve  worse  at  the  hands  of 
♦♦  the  government  than  other  Protestants ;  but,  on  the 
"  contrary,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  if  they  (I  mean 
"  the  dissenters)  had  not  put  a  stop  to  the, career  of  the 
"  Irish  army  at  Enniakiilen  and  Londonderry,  the  settie- 


§ 


PROTBSTANT   RBPORMATION   IN   tRfiLAND. 


lai 


<t  meni  of  the  government,  both  in  England  and  Scot- 
<<  land,  might  not  have  proved  so  easy  as  it  thereby  did ; 
« tor  if  that  army  had  got  to  Scotland,  (as  there  was 
*'  nothing  at  that  time  to  have  hindered  them  but  the 
"  bravery  of  those  people,  who  were  mostly  dissenters, 
>'  and  chargeable  with  no  other  crime  since ;  unless  their 
(i  close  adhering  to  and  early  appearing  for  the  then 
"  government,  and  the  many  faithful  services  they  did 
"  their  country,  were  crimes,)  I  say,  (said  he,)  if  they  had 
<^  got  to  Scotland,  when  they  had  boats,  barks,  and  all 
"  things  else  ready  for  their  transportation,  and  a  great 
"  many  friends  there  in  arms,  waiting  only  their  coming 
"  to  join  them, —it  is  easy  to  think  what  the  consequence 
"  would  have  been  to  both  these  kingdoms ;  and  these 
"  dissenters  then  were  thought  fit  for  command,  both 
"  civil  and  military,  and  were  no  less  instrumental  in 
"(Contributing  to  the;  reducing  the  kingdom  than  any 
"  other  Protestants ;  and  to  pass  a  bill  now,  to  deprive 
"them  of  their  birthrights,  (for  those  ^*'eir  good  ser- . 
"  vices,)  would  surely  be  a  most  unkind  icturn,  and  the 
"  worst  reward  ever  granted  to  a  people  so  deserving. 
"  Whatever  the  Papists  may  be  supposed  to  have  de- 
"  served,  the  dissenters  certainly  stand  as  clean  in  the 
"  face  of  the  present  government  as  any  other  people 
"  whatsoever ;  and  if  this  is  all  the  return  they  are  like 
"  to  get,  it  will  be  but  a  slender  encouragement,  if 
"  ever  occasion  should  require,  for  others  to  pursue 
"  their  examples.  — 

"  By  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  clauses 
"  of  this  bill,  all  Papists,  after  the  24th  of  March,  1703, 
"  are  prohibited  from  purchasing  any  houses  or  tene- 
"  ments,  or  coming  to  dwell  in  any,  in  Limerick  or  Gal- 
"  way,  or  the  suburbs  of  either,  and  even  such  as  were 
"  under  the  articles,  and  by  virtue  thereof  have  ever 
"  since  lived  there,  from  staying  there,  without  giving 
"  such  security  as  neither  those  articles,  nor  any  law 
"  heretofore  in  force,  do  require ;  except  seamen,  nsher- 
"  men,  and  day  laborers,  who  pay  not  above  forty  shil- 
"  lings  a  year  rent ;  and  from  voting  for  the  election  of 
"  members  of  Parliament,  unless  they  take  the  oath  of 
16 


«iii, 


■i^M . 


*^feL''^N"i: 


182 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THB 


"  abjuration ;  which  to  oblige  them  to  is  contrary  to 
^*  ,the  ninth  of  Limerick  articles ;  which,  as  aforesaid, 
**  says  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  no  other,  shall  be  im- 
**  posed  upon  them ;  and,  unless  they  abjure  their  religion, 
"  takes  away  their  advowsons  and  right  of  presentation, 
"  contrary  to  the  privilege  of  right,  the  law  of  nations,  and 
"  the  great  charter  of  Magna  Charta ;  which  provides, 
"  that  no  man  shall  be  disseized  of  his  birthright,  without 
"  committing  some  crime  against  the  known  laws  of  the 
*^  land  in  which  he  is  born,  or  inhabits.  And  if  there 
"  was  no  law  in  force,  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles 
"  II.,  against  these  things,  (as  there  certainly  was  not,) 
''  and  if  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this  kingdom  have  not 
"  since  forfeited  their  right  to  the  laws  that  then  were 
"  in  force,  (as  for  certain  they  have  not,)  then,  with  hum- 
<*  ble  submission,  all  the  aforesaid  clauses  and  matters 
"  contained  in  this  bill,  entitled  An  act  to  prevent  ihi^fw- 
"  ther  growth  of  Popery^  are  directly  against  the  plain 
"  words  and  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  said  articles, 
<^  and  a  violation  of  the  public  faith,  and  the  laws  made 
"  for  their  performance ;  and  what  I  therefore  hope  (said 
"  he)  this  honorable  house  will  consider  accordingly." 

Counsellor  Malone  was  also  heard,  and  Sir  Stephen 
^ice,  as  a  party  interested,  offered  some  remarks.  But 
their  arguments  were  fruitless.  The  bill  was  engrossed 
and  sent  to  the  Lords,  where,  on  the  28th  of  February, 
Sir  Toby  and  Malone  were  again  heard  against  it.  It 
was,  however,  passed,  under  the  protest  of  a  respectable 
minority,  and,  on  the  4th  of  March,  it  received  the  royal 
assent  of  the  queen.* 

*  Famell'B  Penal  Laws.  Appendix. 

Sir  Toby  Butler's  conyiviu  habits  caused  the  introduction  of  his 
name  into  that  famous  old  song,  "The  Cruiakeen  Lawn."  It  is 
there  recorded,   that, — 

<*  At  court,  with  manly  grace, 
^  When  Sir  Toby  pleads  his  case, 

Ifntil  the  veil  of  doubt  is  withdrawn — 

Without  his  cheerful  glass 

He's  as  stupid  as  an  ass : 

So,  gentlemen,  a  cruiskeen  lawn ! " 

Many  pleasant  tales  of  Sir  Toby  hare  been  preserved  in  Irish  sooietji 
among  them  the  following :  — 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


183 


It  was  only  at  the  bar  the  Irish  Catholics  could  look 
for  defenders,  now  that  their  soldiers  were  far  away.  In 
the  following  reign,  an  act  was  passed  excluding  Cath- 
olics from  the  profession  of  the  law — an  act  which  was 
not  repealed  until  1793.  Whatever  Catholic  leadership 
there  was  during  the  interval  was  thus  thrown  among 


'*  An  action  for  the  recovery  of  debt  was  brought  by  the  Archbishop 
of  Cashel  against  Mr.  Flegoe,  -who  employed  Sir  Toby  Butler  as  his 
leading  counsel.  On  the  request  of  Sir  Toby  a  brief  was  given  to  a 
young  lawyer  of  good  Irish  family,  named  O'Callaghan.  This  gentle- 
man, on  the  trial,  raised  an  ingenious  point  of  law,  which  saved  the 
estate  to  his  client.  On  the  following  morning,  the  two  barristers  break- 
&sted  with  Mr.  Flegoe,  when  Sir  Toby  declared  his  wish  to  hold  s  me 
important  conversation  with  that  gentleman  in  the  presence  of  O  '^<\1- 
lagnan.  Having  retired,  the  following  extraordinary  con'^'ersation  b.  - 
sued :  — 

*'  *  Mr.  Flegoe,  I  intend  to  confer  a  great  favor  on  your  faniily.  Here  is 
my  friend,  who  saved  a  good  estate  for  you.  He  is  a  bachelor ;  you  have 
a  daughter,  whom  you  cannot  bestow  more  honorably  than  by  marrying 
this  yotmg  man.    Do  you  see  ? ' 

'*  To  which  Mr.  Flegoe  replied,  *  Undoubtedly,  Sir  Toby,  the  alliance 
is  highly  honorable,  and  I  have  great  obligations  to  Mr.  O'Callaghan. 
At  the  same  time,  Sir  Toby  Butler  wUl  think  it  but  reasonable  that  a 
father  who  has  an  only  daughter,  -with  a  large  fortune,  shoidd  inquire  the 
pretensions  of  the  suiter  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view.' 

"Whereupon  Sir  Toby  seized  hold  of  O'Callaghan's  chin,  saying, 
*Now,  Corney,  hold  your  tongue!  I  tell  you,  Flegoe,  this  fellow's 
tongue  entitles  him  to  any  jgirl  in  Ireland.' 

*'  O'Callaghan  continued  to  distinguish  himself  at  the  bar ;  Flegoe  gave 
him  his  daughter ;  and  such  was  the  foundation  of  the  wealth  of  his  great 
nephew.  Lord  Lismore." 

In  connection  -with  the  ill-fated  Father  Sheehy,  we  will  hear  again  of 
Mr.  O'Callaghan. 

Some  anecdote-hunters  have  conjectured  that  he  was  the  original 
"Toby  Fhilpot ;  "  but  this  is  very  doubtful.  His  social  habits  never  were 
allowed  to  interfere  -with  his  public  duties.  An  anecdote  of  his  decided 
character  at  the  bar  —  one  which  only  could  become  current  of  a  master 
in  his  profession  —  is  thus  told :  "  Engaged  in  a  case  where  the  counsel 
opposed  to  him  seemed  to  carry  both  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  the 
jury,  he  stood  up  and  said,  •  Gentlemen  of  the  jury ;  The  cause  of  our 
antagonist,  though  plausible,  is  bad,  if  there  be  truth  in  th^  old  saying, 
that  •«  good  -wine  needs  no  bush,  or  a  good  cause  no  bribe^."  Here,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury,  is  what  was  put  into  my  hand  this  morning,  (holding 
out  a  purse  of  gold ;)  it  was  given  in  the  hope  that  it  would  have  bribed 
me  into  a  lukewarm  advocacy  of  my  client's  cause.  But  here  I  throw 
dowu  Achan's  weight  —  here  I  cast  at  your  feet  the  accursed  thing.' 
And  so  he  went  on  most  ably  to  state  his  case  and  defend  his  cause."  — 
Dublin  Penny  Journal  for  1832-33. 

Sir  Toby  was  buried  in  St.  James's  Churchyard,  Dublin,  where  hit 
fine  monument  still  stands. 


'■f 


''^« 


D>%« 


184 


ATTEMI'TS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


the  traders  and  the  timid  remnant  of  the  Catholic  gentry. 
After  Sir  Toby  Butler,  there  is  a  blank  of  lawyers. —  a 
fact  which  partly  accounts  for  the  prevalence  of  illegal 
agrarian  societies,  from  about  1760,  until  the  end  of 
the   century.     Deprived  of  legal  advisers,  the  goaded 

{)ea8antry  had  recourse,  naturally  enough,  to  other  and 
ess  judicious  means  of  defence.* 

The  Irish  legislature,  the  willing  instrument  of  Anne's 
persecution,  had  not  even  that  poor  excuse  of  zeal  for  the 
honor  of  the  crown  which  was  pleaded  as  a  pream'^le  to 
the  old  acts  of  allegiance,  confiscation,  and  conformity. 
With  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  its  members  were 
willing  to  sacrifice  not  only  the  Catholics,  but  the  com- 
merce of  the  whole  country,  to  propitiate  their  English 
Protestant  brethren.  The  question  of  the  independence 
of  their  Own  body  could  not  induce  them  to  bear  up  man- 
fully under  the  weakening  sense  of  patronage.  Wiljiara 
Molyneaux,  one  of  the  n^embers  for  Trinity  College,  tried 
in  vain  to  inspire  them  with  a  share  of  his  patriotic  cour- 
age. His  Case  of  Ireland  will  long  remain  a  monu- 
ment of  his  civic  courage,  in  a  dumb  and  degenerate  age ; 
and  though  his  days  were  few  in  life,  the  days  of  his 
memory  have  been  many. 

Under  9  servile  Parliament  and  brutal  sovereign,  the 
material  mterests  of  the  kingdoi.^  rapidly  declined. 
During  Chcrles  IL's  reign,  a  large  balance  had  been  left^ 
in  favor  of  the  country,  on  the  total  of  imports  and  ex- 
ports. But  now  the  balance  ran  all  the  other  way.  In 
1695,t  the  deficit  was  ninety-five  thousand  nine  hundred 

*  Counsellor  Malone,  who  acted  with  Butler  in  1704,  was  the  father 
of  the  Iiish  judge  Edmund  Malone,  and  of  the  Irish  chancellor  Anthony 
Malone^  of  whom  Lord  Sackville  said  that  *<  Pitt,  Mansfield,  and  Ma- 
lone" were  the  three  greatest  orators  he  had  ever  heard.  Gratton  and 
others,  well  qualified  to  judge,  speak  of  him  with  equal  admiration. 
These  distinguished  men,  alas  !  purchased  eminence  at  the  awful  price 
of  apostasy. 

Edmund  Malone,  the  editor  of  Shakspeare,  was  son  to  the  judge,  and 
grandson  to  the  Catholic  counsellor.  He  was,  in  e«u:ly  lif6,  a  member  of 
the  Irish  parliament,  and  was  one  of  the  intimates  of  Burke,  Johnson, 
Goldsmith,  and  Reynolds,  whose  life  he  wrote.  The  family  were  an  off- 
shoot of  the  O'Connors. 

t  There  are  no  accessible  returns  of  "the  balance  of  trade"  in  Ireland 
ficom  1681  to  1695.  —  Dobbs,  On  Irish  Ttadct  p.  6.  DubUA,  1739. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


185 


and  thirty-two  pounds,  and  it  was  not  till  twenty  years 
later.that  the  trade  and  revenues  began  to  recover  from 
the  losses  they  sustained  under  King  William's  par- 
liament. 

Even  the  towns  of  Ulster,  planted  with  such  care  by 
James  I.,  and  fighting  with  such  zeal  for  William,  felt 
severely  his  proscriptive  policy.  Thousands  of  the  opera- 
tives "removed  into  the  Protestant  states  of  Germany;" 
"several  Papists,  at  the  same  time,  removed  into  the 
northern  parts  of  Spain ; "  "  other  Protestants,  who  were 
embarked  with  the  Papists,  removed  into  France,  and 
settled  in  Rouen  and  other  parts."  An  eminent  English 
statesman  has  set  down  this  emigration  of  h  opera- 
tives at  one  hundred  thousand  men !  * 

While  these  fugitives  were  seeking  homv  through 
Europe,  Huguenot  refugees  were  settling  in  Spitalfields 
and  Dublin,  under  the  patronage  of  the  illiberal  Parlia- 
ment. Raised  into  independence  by  the  very  men  who 
proscribed  native  industry,  they  invariably  refused  to 
take  Roman  Catholic  apprentices  into  their  several 
trades.f  These  were  the  first  fruits  of  a  revolution  which 
faction  celebrated  as  a  deliverance  from  Popery,  prelacy, 
brass  money,  and  wooden  shoes.J 

The  2d  of  Anne,  cap.  6,  gave -rise  to  an  infamous  class 
of  men,  called  "  priest-hunters,"  who  set  themselves  to 
track  and  insnare  the  disguised  clergymen  who  found 
their  way  every  spring  from  the  colleges  of  the  conti- 
nent into  the  ports  and  creeks  of  Ireland.  Priest-hunting 
became  a  regular  trade.     Volunteers  of  better  circum- 


•II 


*  Dobbs  on  Irish  Trade,  p.  6.  Earl  Fitzwilliam's  Calculation.  Letter 
to  the  Dublin  Evening  Post,  1846. 

t  Among  other  charges  to  be  laid  by  Ireland  against  her  Protestant 
kin^s  is  the  most  grievous  one  of  corrupting  the  currency.  Simon  says 
of  Henry  VIII.,  "  The  money  coined  for  Ireland  in  this  reign  was  little 
better  than  brass."  '*  In  the  reign  of  James  I.,  a  proclamation  was  issued, 
ordering  the  base  money  coined  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  to  pass  at  one 
fourth  its  former  value.  The  well-known  patent  to  William  Wood,  for 
coining  base  money,  in  Dublin,  which  led  to  Swift's  '  Drapier's  Letters,' 
will  readily  occur  to  the  Irish  reader's  memory."  —  Simon,  Eaaay  on  Irish 
Coins. 

X  Otway's  Handloom  Weavers'  Beport,  1839.  , 

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186 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


stances,  trom  the  mere  wantonness  of  malice,  sometimes 
joined  in  the  pursuit,  which  set  the  same  price 

"  Upon  the  head  of  wolf  and  friar." 

In  the  8th  of  Ann^,  the  tariff  of  blood  was  fixed  by 
law — for  an  archbishop,  bishop,  or  other  superior,  fifty 
pounds ;  for  other  ecclesiastics,  twenty  pounds  per  head. 

One  of  the  most  infamous  "  informers,"  under  this  sys- 
tem, was  a  Portuguese  Jew,  named  Garcia,  settled  at 
Dublin.  He  was  very  skilful  at  disguises.  <<  He  some- 
times put  on  the  mien  of  a  priest,  for  he  affected  to  be 
one,  and  thus  worming  himself  into  the  good  graces  of 
some  confiding  Catholic,  got  a  clew  to  tlie  whereabouts 
of  the  clergy."  *  In  1718,  Garcia  succeeded  in  arresting 
seven  unregistered  priests,  for  whose  detection  he  had  a 
sum  equal  to  two  or  three  thousand  dollars  of  American 
money.  To  such  a  revolting  excess  was  this  profession 
carried,  that  a  reaction  set  in,  and  a  Catholic  bishop  of 
Ossory,  who  lived  at  the  time  these  acts  were  still  in 
force,  records  that  "the  priest-catchers*  occupation  be- 
came exceedingly  odious  both  to  Protestants  and  Cath- 
olics," and  that  himself  had  seen  ^<  ruffians  of  this  calling 
assailed  with  a  shower  of  stones,  flung  by  both  Catholics 
and  Protestants."  f  But  this  change  was  in  the  second 
George's  reign. 

Proceeding  from  excess  to  excess,  a  proposal  was  actu- 
ally made,  and,  in  the  shape  of  a  bill,  transmitted  into 
England,  by  the  viceroy.  Lord  Wharton,  to  authorize 
the  castration  of  every  priest  found  in  the  island,  j:  The 
British  privy  council  threw  out  the  vile  proposal,  and, 
perhaps,  from  that  last  effort  of  almost  extinct  humanity 
we  may  trace  the  first  glimmering  of  a  reaction  against 
the  whole  system. 

The  external  condition  of  the  Irish  church  was,  truly, 
deplorable  enough.     In  1704,  under  the  registry  act,  the 

*  Meehan's  Vita  Kerovani,  Appendix,  p.  196.  "  I  nfiyse^  have  known 
many  priests  thus  taken,  who,  having  been  long  detained  prisoners,  were 
subsequently  transported  beyond  seas."  —  De  Burgo,  Hmmia  Domini- 
can, pp.  157  and  158. 

t  Hib.  Dom. 

X  Curry's  Civil  Wars.    Plowden's  Ireland. 


WS':  .    '■"■      MS 


i-.n 


metimes 


fixed  by 
•ior,  fifty 
)er  head, 
this  sys- 
;ttled  at 
[e  some- 
ed  to  be 
races  of 
reabouts 
arresting 
le  had  a 
Linerican 
rofession 
ishop  of 
}  still  in 
ition  he- 
ld Cath- 
s  calling 
catholics 
B  second 

'■as  actu- 
;ted  into 
Luthorize 
4  The 
sal,  and, 
unianity 
I  against 

IS,  truly, 
act,  the 

ave  known 
)ners,  were 
ia  Domini- 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


187 


total  of  the  clergy  was  found  to  be  eighteen  hundred. 
Of  these,  a  great  part,  perhaps  the  majority,  were  old  and 
inactive.  One  hundred  and  sixteen  of  them  had  been 
ordained  by  the  martyred  Archbishop  Plunkett,  nearly 
forty  years  previously,  and  a  number  of  others  by  that 
bishop's  contemporaries.  -  The  perils  of  the  order  were 
greatly  increased,  by  the  passage,  in  1708,  of  an  act 
obliging  all  *^  registered  priests  to  take  the  oath  of  abju- 
ration before  the  25th  of  March,  1710."  This  oath,  de- 
nying transubstantiation,  the  invocation  of  saints,  and 
declaring  the  mass  idolatrous,  no  priest  could  take.  Here, 
of  course,  was  a  new  field  for  the  informers.  To  make 
their  cruel  trade  respectable,  the  precious  Parliament, 
which  cut  out  their  work,  resolved,  "that  the  prosecut- 
ing and  informing  against  Papists  was  an  honorable 
service,  and  that  all  magistrates  who  neglected  to  exe- 
cute these  laws  were  betrayers  of  the  liberties  of  the 
kingdom."*  Hard  and  desperate  times  those  for  all 
"Jesuits  and  seminary  priests,"  who  feared  God  more 
than  death  or  transportation.! 

At  this  time,  the  wisdom  of  Providence  had  placed  in 
the  see  of  Armagh  a  most  prudent  and  able  man.  Dr. 
Hugh  McMahon.  Born  in  1660,  educated  at  Louvain, 
he  could  remember  the  martyrdom  of  at  least  two  of  his 
predecessors.  Nothing  dismayed,  he  assumed,  in  1708, 
their  perilous  place,  and  in  the  midst  of  its  many  duties, 
which  he  openly  or  secretly  continued  to  discharge,  he 
found"  leisure  for  the  preparation  of  a  very  valuable 
work,  on  the  primacy  and  history  of  the  church  of  Ar- 
magh. He  lived  to  rejoice  in  the  first  fa^nt  symptoms 
of  toleration,  and  to  see  the  episcopal  body  gradually 
filling  up  around  him.:}; 

*  Irish  Commons  Journal,  vol.  iii.  p.  319. 

t  "  There  was  not  left,"  says  Dr.  Burke,  in  his  History  of  the  Irish 
Dominicans,  <«  a  single  house  of  that  order,  which  was  not  suppressed."  — 
Hib.  Dom.  p.  155. 

X  The  foUowing  striking  story  is  told  of  Primate  McMahon  :  «  The 
Irish'  witnesses  soon  squandered  the  money  which  they  had  received  for 
proving  the  plot  and  swearing  away  the  primate's  life.  For  a  time  they 
managed  to  support  themselves  by  swearing  against  Shaftesbury  and  their 
old  employers.    But  even  this  feuled  them,  and  they  were  '^vickly  brought 


188 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


As  under  the  Stuarts  so  in  this  reign  and  the  next, 
the  faithful  laity  suffered  proportionably  to  the  clergy. 
The  few  nidmbers  of  the  Catholic  gentry  still  left  with 
any  vestige  of  property  were  obliged  to  resort  to  their 
own  unused  energies.  One  of  the  chief  of  these  was 
O' Conor,",  of  Roscommon,  the  lineal  descendant  of 
Roderick,  the  last  of  the  Celtic  kings.  Holding  the 
plough  with  his  own  hands,  he  would  exhort  his  sons 
against  pride,  telling  them  to  remember  that,  though  he 
"  was  the  son  of  a  gentleman,  they  were  the  sons  of  a 
ploughman."  The  heir  of  this  excellent  man  fortu- 
nately lived  to  occupy  another  position,,  in  after  times, 
towards  his  countrymen. 

The  Catholic  townsmen,  who  followed  any  trade  or 
craft,  felt  quite  as  bitterly  the  results  of  the  proscription. 
In  the  writings  of  Swift,  from  which  a  perfect  picture  of 
Irish  society  in  his  time  might  be  drawn,  we  find^them 
reported  to  be  "  altogether  as  inconsiderable  as  the  wo- 
men and  children."  "  The  common  people,  without 
leaders,  without  discipline,  or  natural  courage,  being  lit- 
tle better  than  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  are 
out  of  all  capacity  of  doing  any  mischief,  if  they  were 
ever  so  well  inclined."  In  one  or  two  other  passages  of 
his  writings  we  find  enough  to  satisfy  us  that  Swift  was 
fairly  disposed  towards  his  Catholic  countrymen,  but 


to  a  state  of  the  most  wretched  destitution.  Florence  McMoyer  was  so  far 
reduced  that  he  was  obliged  to  pawn,  for  five  pounds,  the  celebrated 
'  Book  of  Armagh,'  which  thus  passed  out  of  his  family,  where  it  had 
remained  for  many  centuries.  Nor  was  this  the  worst  evil  against  which 
these  miserable  beings  had  to  contend ;  for  they  were  now  universally 
abhorred  ,and  detested  even  by  their  former  abetters,  and  lived  in  daily 
terror  of  being  punished,  perhaps  hanged,  for  their  perjuries.  They  had 
now  no  firiencU,  for  they  had  been  equally  faithless  and  false  to  all  par- 
ties. They  were,  moreover,  tormented  by  the  hell  of  a  guilty  conscience, 
for  the  crime  of  murder  was  upon  their  souls.  One  of  those  miscreants, 
]>uffy,  old,  emaciated,  abhorred,  exiled  from  his  church,  and  tortured 
with  remorse,  visited  a  successor  of  Dr.  Flunkett,  (Dr.  McMahon,)  and  as 
he  approached  him,  exclaimed  in  an  agony  of  soul,  <  Ami  never  to  have 
peace  ?  Is  there  no  mercy  for  me } '  The  prelate  heard  him  in  silence, 
then  opened  a  glass  case,  and  in  a  deep  and  solemn  voice  said,  '  Look 
here,  thou  unfortunate  wretch ! '  The  head  of  his  murdered  primate 
waa before  him;  he  saw,  knew  it,  and  swooned  away."  This  miserable 
man  was  reconciled  to  tlxe  church,  and  died  penitent. 


'< 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


189 


the  next, 
le  clergy. 

left  with 
t  to  their 
these  was 
ndant  of 
[ding  the 

his  sons 
hough  he 
Bons  of  a 
an  fortu- 
ber  times, 

trade  or 
•scription. 
jicture  of 
ind  ^them 
,s  the  wo- 
!,  without 
being  lit- 
vater,  are 
;hey  were 
ssages  of 
Swiftwas 
men,  but 


er  was  so  far 
e  celebrated 
'here  it  had 
gainst  which 
universally 
ired  in  daily 
They  had 
s  to  all  par- 
conscience, 
miscreants, 
ad  tortured 
hon,)  and  as 
)ver  to  have 
1  in  silence, 
said,  *Look 
red  primate 
is  miserable 


they  were  seemingly  so  powerless,  that  he  had  no  pros- 
pect of  doing  good  by  undertaking  their  cause.  He 
consequently  alludes  to  them,  but  cautiously  and  inci- 
dentally.* We  can  conceive  something  of  their  situa- 
tion in  towns  and  cities  from  two  petitions  sent  into 
the  Irish  Parliament  in  Anne's  reiga  One,  from  "the 
Protestant  coal  porters  of  Dublin,"  complained  that 
Darby  Ryan,  '^  a  captain  under  the  late  King  James, 
and  a  Papist  notoriously  disaffected,  bought  up  whole 
cargoes  of  coal,  and  employed  those  of  his  own  persua- 
sion and  affection  to  carry  the  same  to  customers." 
Another  petition  was  from  the  hackney  coachmen,  pray- 
ing "  that  it  might  be  enacted  that  none  but  Protestant 
hackney  coachmen  might  have  liberty  to  keep  or  drive 
hackney  coaches." f  How  these  "prayers"  must  have 
edified  the  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's ! 

So  low  had  the  once  high  spirit  of  that  people  fallen, 
that  these  indignities  were  patiently  born  by  the  majority. 
All  of  spirit,  who  could  do  so,  exiled  themselves.  Others, 
unable  to  emigrate,  and  unable  to  control  their  indigna- 
tion, suffered  severely  for  occasional  exhibitions  of  manly 
spirit.  The  meanest  Protestant  regarded  himself  as  far 
£,bove  the  noblest  Catholic.  The  former  were  known 
by  their  audacity  and  assurance  of  manner,  while,  in 
1730,  a  shrewd  observer  declares  that  a  Catholic  might 
be  told  by  his  stooped  carriage  and  subdued  man- 
ner.|  We  hear,  without  surprise,  therefore,  that  the  Irish 
abroad  are  a  good  deal  disgusted  with  their  brethren  at 
home;  that  when,  in  1715,  "the  old  pretender"  (James 
III.)  makes  a  desperate  effort  to  regain  the  triple  crown 
of  the  islands,  no  help  for  him  issues  out  of  Ireland. 
He  has  Irishmen  in  his  army,  of  course,  but  they  come 
from  the  continent,  not  from  "home."  They  do  their 
devoir  bravely,  according  to  the  custom  of  their  country, 
at  Killiecrankie,  and  some  of  them  lie  long  in  prison 


*  In  Reasons  for  repealing  the  Test  in  Favor  of  Roman  Catholics,  in 
Dublin  Cries,  and  his  Correspondence, 
t  Quoted  in  Captain  Rock,  p.  124. 
t  Life  and  Writings  of  Charles  O'Connor,  vol  i.  p.  179. 


g^^* 
-^^ 


'i'  ' 


If 


1 


190 


ATTEMPTtt   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


after  the  battle  of  Preston.  Conspicaous  amohg  them  is 
Sir  Charles  Wogan,*  descended  of  that  dashing  Cava* 
lier  who  cut  his  way  through  Puritan  England,  in  Crom- 
well's days/ and,  with  his  stout  two  hundred  ho.se, 
joined  the  friends  of  King  Charles  in  the  Scottish  High- 
lands. 

Perhaps  the  indifference  of  the  Irish  at  home  to  the 
Stuart  cause,  in  1715,  helped  them ;  in  1745,  it  certainly 
did.  Though  additional  penal  laws  continued  to  be 
passed  till  the  middle  of  the  century,  it  is  certain  that 
the  actual  persecution  somewhat  abated  after  the  acces- 
,  sion  of  the  present  dynasty. 

Shall  we  venture  to  describe  the  effects  of  these  penal 
laws  of  Queen  Anne  ?  The  most  eloquent  Catholic  of 
this  century  declared  that  language  failed  him  in  the 
attempt)  and,  in  the  poverty  of  language,  he  bor- 
rowed Edmund  Burke's  striking  description :  **  ft  was 
a  machine  of  wise  and  elaborate  contrivance,  and  as 
well  fitted  for  the  oppression,  impoverishment,  and  deg- 
radation of  a  people,  and  the  debasement  in  them  of 
human  nature  itself,  as  ever  proceeded  from  the  per- 
verted ingenuity  of  man." 


*  Sir  Charles  was  a  worthy  descendant  of  that  £Eunous  Cavalier  men- 
l^ed  in  the  text-  He  won  his  knightly  rank  from  the  hands  of  the 
ipope,  by  rescuing,  alone  and  tinhelped,  the  Princess  Sobieakiy,  betrothed 
to  M  the  old  pretender,"  from  the  fortress  of  Innspruck,  in  the  Tyrol, 
■tid^  conveying,  her  safd  to  Rome.  After  his  English  imprisonment,  he 
lij|cl '  qommand  of  a  regiment  in  Spain,  from  which  he  sent  Swift  a 

ErelMilt  of  pure  wine,  accompanied  by  a  Latin  poem,  and  one  of  the  no- 
leat  pieces  of  English  prose  in  the  language.  In  this  letter,  Wogam 
aaya  of  his  fellow  refugees,  "  They  have  shown  a  great  deal  of  gallantry 
in  the  defence  of  foreign  states  and  princes,  with  very  little  advantage  to 
themselves  but  that  of  being  free,  and  without  half  the  dutward  marks 
of  distinction  thev  deserved.  These  southern  governments  are  very  slow 
in  advancing  foreigners  to  conuderable  or  gainful  perfermentsv"  —  **  Roi- 
coq'b  Edition  ofSwiJVs  fTorAv,  vol.  ii.  p.  667."  The  entire  letter  is  worthy 
of  repeated  readings. 


PBOTEBTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND.     191 


CHAPTER  V. 


IRISH  CATHOLICS  ABROAD. -IRISH  COLLEGES  AT  LOUVAIN,  PARIS, 
ROME,  LISBON,  Ito.- IRISH  SOLDIERS  IN  FOREION  SERTICE.— THE 
IRISH  BRIGADE  IN  FRANCE— HOW  THEIR  REFUTATION  REACTED 
ON  ENGLAND.  ^ 

In  this  desperate  straggle  for  the  maintenance  of  reli- 
gion in  Ireland,  she  had  numerous  auxiliaries  in  the  col- 
leges founded  for  the  education  of  her  students  on  the 
continent.  Of  these  and  their  founders  some  account 
is  called  for. 

The  native  Irish  schools  had  never  fully  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  the  Danish  wars.  The  revival  of  Irish 
education  by  St.  Malachy  was  extinguished  under  the 
Norman  invasion,  and  the  greater  foreign  institutions 
founded  at  Paris,  Salamanca,  and  Rome  became  the 
favorite  resorts  of  Irish  scholars  during  the  middle  ages. 
•When  England  adopted  a  new  faith,  and  her  ralers  be- 
gan to  wage  their  deadly  warfare  against  Catholic  educa- 
tion, what  had  been  before  the  choice  of  the  islanders 
became  then  their  necessity. 

From  its  situation  and  renown,  the  Universi^  of  Lou- 
vain,  founded  by  John,  Duke  of  Brabant,  in  l425,  was 
much  frequented  by  the  Irish,  even  in  the  sixteenth  centioy* 
Peter  Lombard,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Armagh^  (King* 
James's  special  friend,)  and  O' Hurley,  the  martyro^lp^k- 
bishop  of  Cashel,  graduated  there,  with  high  hondi^  In 
QpiTJunction  with  this  university,  Florence  Conroy,  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam,  ("  who,  for  various  reasons,  would  not 
be  safe  among  the  English,'^  says  his  friend  O' Sullivan,) 
founded  the  Irish  CoUege  of  St.  Anthony,  A.  D.  1617. 
The  funds  for  this  purpose  were  generously  supplied  by 
the  viceroys,  Albert  and  Isabella,  then  governing  at 
Brussels.  JDbr.  Conroy  caused  an  Irish  press  to  be  erect- 
ed, firoiu  whicia,'  for  more  than  a  century,  the  greater  part 
of  the  catechisms  and  manuals  used  in  Ireland  were 
secretly  obtained.  Here  the  learned  founder  prepared 
his  Commentaries  on  St.  Augustin,  and  here   Ward, 


#^H 


tm 


192 


( 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


Colgan,  and  O'Clerv  prepared  their  Acts  of  the  Irish 
Saints,  and  arranged  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters. 
Conroy  died  in  1629.  A  tablet,  still  legible,  commemo- 
rates his  name  amid  the  ruins  of  St  Anthony's  College. 

In  1624,  Matthew,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  aided  by 
Pope  Urban  VIIL,  founded,  also,  in  conjunction  with  this 
university,  the  Collegium  Pastorale  Hibernorum,  for  sec- 
ulars, only.  Dr.  Nicholas  Aylmer  was  the  first  president. 
With  its  after  history  are  associated  the  honorable 
names  of  Stapleton,  French,  Arsdekin,  and  Peter  TT^^alsh, 
all  eminent  scholars  and  constant  Catholics. 

In  1659,  Dr.  Grregory,  and  two  brothers  named  Joyce, 

-  founded  the  Irish  Dominican  college  at  Inouvain,  under 

the  invocation  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin.     The  fathers 

O' Sullivan,  O'Daly,  and  Burke  are  among  the  first  doc* 

tors  of  this  school. 

Like  all  other  institutions  in  the  Netherlands -p  that 
'  common  battle  field  of  Europe — these  Irish  colleges  un- 
derwent various  vicissitudes.  When,  in  1633,  the  Dutch, 
with  sixty  thousand  men,  besieged  Louvain,  the  Irish 
students  shared  in  all  the  dangers  of  the  defence.  They 
formed  a  regiment  of  their  own  number,  and  under 
Preston,  the  confederate,  "  distinguished  themselves  for 
deeds  of  valor  and  renown."  In  that  stirring  siege,  cas- 
sock and  shako  were  strangely  blended;  the  Jesuits 
formed  a  corps  of  pioneers,  and  constructed  or  attacked 
works  with  all  the  coolness  of  veterans ;  the  Walloon 
regiments  acted  with  proverbial  courage,  and  Louvain 
was  saved  from  its  powerful  assailants. 

As  an  evidence  of  how  Irish  piety,  even  in  the  worst 
of  times,  devoted  itself  to  the  service  of  God,  we  give 
an  abstract  of  the  endowments  received  by  the  Irish 
Pastoral  College,  during  the  two  centuries  of  its  exist- 
ence :  — 

"  "  Matthew,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  in  1624  founded  a 
"  bourse  of  2000  florins,  which  produced  a  yearly  reve- 
"  nue  of  48  florins,  for  natives  of  his  diocese,  being  stu- 
" dents  in  theology  and  philosophy;  the  collation  was 
"  in  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin ;  Edward  Purcell  was  in 
M  the  enjoyment  of  this  firom  1784  up  to  the  time  of  the 


:    ill 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


193 


<<  visitation.  The  archbishop  founded  a  second  bourse 
<<  of  2871  florins,  the  same  year,  producing  about  100 
^  florins  yearly  for  his  next  of  kin  in  the  first  instance, 
<(  and  secondly  for  natives  of  the  diocese  of  Clogher. 
"  Charles  McKenna  held  this  since  1780.  The  presen- 
« tation  was  in  the  ^ft  of  the  Bishop  of  Clogher. 

«  James  Normel,  m  1653,  granted  993  florins  for  stu- 
«  dents  in  philosophy,  theology,  humanity,  law,  and  med- 
« icine.  The  visitors  and  president  of  the  college  had 
"  the  presentation  |  and  the  grant  was  to  be  held  by  the 
"  founders  next  of  kin  in  the  first  instance,  and  then  a 
"  preference,  in  the  following  order,  was  to  be  given  to 
"natives  of  Clonmel,  Lismore,  Munster,  and  Ireland. 
«  Edward  Cantillon  enjoyed  this  since  1784. 

"  Hugh  Mauricy,  in  1680,  granted  2373  florins  for  stu- 
'  dents  in  the  same  departments  as  the  last,  and  liii  the 
*  gift  of  the  same  persons ;  to  be  enjoyed  by  his  next  of 
"  kin  in  the  first  instance,  and  then,  in  default,  by  natives 
"  of  Galway,Conna:ight,  Ireland,  and  lastly,  Buygenhout, 
"  in  Flanders.     Patiick  Rouland  enjoyed  this  since  1784. 

"  Roger  Nqittingham,  in  1692,  granted  1000  florins  for 
"  the  same  studies  as  last,  excepting  humanity  and  law ; 
"  and  this  was  also  in  the  gift  of  the  same  persons,  with 
"  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  to  be  enjoyed  by  his  next 
"  of  kin  to  the  fourth  degree ;  then  by  natives  of  Dublin, 
"Leinster,  and  the  parish  of  St.  Nicholas  at  Ghent. 
«  Charles  Finn  held  this  since  1783. 

«  Matthew  Theige,  in  1652,  gave  5702  florins  for  ;5tu- 
" dents  in  philosophy  and  theology,  to  be  presente.l  by 
"  the  visitors  and  president,  to  be  held  by  the  kindred  ^i  ' 
"  the  founder,  then  by  natives  of  Limerick,  or,  in  defutxlt, 
"by  natives  of  Ireland.  Held  by  Patrick  Cleary  and 
«  Edward  CantUlon  since  1780  and  1784.  ^ 

"  Nicholas  French,  in  1683,  granted  600  florins  for  stu- 
"  dents  in  rhetoric,  philosophy,  and  theology.  The  pres- 
"  entation  was  in  the  Bishop  of  Ferns  and  the  president 
"  of  the  college ;  his  next  of  kin  had  the  preference,  then 
"  natives  of  the  diocese  of  Ferns,  and,  in  default,  natives 
"  of  Ireland.    E.  Ennis  enjoyed  it  since  1781. 

«  Thomas  Hurley,  in  1697,  granted  3200  florins  for 
17 


.^^ 

w 


194 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


B;    -  I   '  .  I 


**  students  in  philosophy,  theology,  humanity,  law,  and 
**  medicine.  The  presentation  was  in  the  president  and 
**  visitors  of  the  college,  to  be  held  first  by  his  next  of 
**  kin,  then  natives  of  Limerick,  Tipperary,  Munster,  and 
**  in  default,  the  natives  of  Ireland.  Held  by  Thomas 
"  Hurley  since  1783. 

^  Arnold  Conolly,  in  1715,  granted  2383  florins  for 
<*  students  in  philosophy  and  theology,  the  presentation 
**  being  in  the  president  of  the  college,  and  to  be  held 
^  first  by  the  next  of  kin  of  the  founder,  and  then  by  na- 
**  tives  of  the  diocese  of  Clogher,  held  by  Charles  Mc- 
«  Kenna  since  1780. 

."  Paul  Roche,  P.  P.  of  Wexford,  as  the  executor  of 
«  his  uncle,  David  Roche,  P.  P.  of  Forth,  in  1727,  granted 
"  6008  florins  for  students  in  humanity,  philosophy,  the- 
**  ology,  and  the  arts,  to  be  enjoyed  by  his  next  of  kin, 
**  to  the  third  degree,  and  then  in  order,  by  natiives  of 
"  the  barony  of  Forth,  Wexford,  and  diocese  of  Ferns. 
"  The  presentation  was  in  the  president  of  the  college, 
"  and  P.  P.  of  Wexford,  provided  he  was  a  native  of 
"  Wexford ;  and  in  case  he  was  not,  thcB,  in  his  place, 
"  the  oldest  curate  in  the  barony  of  Forth,  with  two  cit- 
"izens  of  Wexford.  Charles  O'Brien  and  Matthew 
«  Cood  held  this  since  1783. 

"  Raymond  Magrath,  M.  D.,  in  exercitu  ccesaH  sua 
"  majestatisy  in  178MD,  granted  9402  florins  for  students  in 
"  humanity,  philosophy,  theology,  and  medicine,  to  be 
"  enjoyed  by  the  next  of  kin  of  the  founder.  J.  Maccabe 
"  and  H.  Maccabe  enjoyed  this  from  1775  and  1779,  re« 
"  spectively. 

"  Bdmond  Trohy,  merchant  of  Antwerp,  in  1783, 
**  gifted  4585  florins  for  students  in  humanity,  and  all 
"  other  stu(^s.  The  visitors  and  president  of  the  col- 
**  lege  were  the  presenters  ;  and  next  of  kin,  and  in  de- 
"  fault,  natives  of  Tipperary  were  to  be  elected.  Wil- 
"  liam  Britt  enjoyed  this  since  1782.  v 

«  Helen  Duignan,  in  1770,  panted  7848  florins  for 
"  students  in  poetry,  rhetoric,  philosophy,  medicine,  the- 
"  ology,  and  public  disputation.  The  presentation  was 
"in  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  the  Bishop  of  Waterford, 


PROTESTANT   RVFORM>TION  IN   IRELAND. 


195 


)(Bsa/n  sm 


« the  parish  priest  of  Clonmel,  Mr.  MoCarthv,  and  the 
(« oldest  heir  male  of  the  founder.  J.  Dogherty  and 
M  Daniel  McCarthy  enjoyed  this  since  1777  and  1784, 
"  respectively. 

«  Thomas  Tyrrell,  in  1771,  oranted  4800  florins  for 
^  stadents  in  rhetoric,  philosophy,  theology,  and  public 
<<  disputation.  The  presentation  was  to  be  in  the  next 
*«  of  kin ;  this  individual  was,  in  1785,  G.  F.  Brown ; 
^  the  privileged  persons  were  the  next  of  kin  to  the  sixth 
^  degree,  and,  in  default,  natives  of  Westmeath  or  Ire- 
<<  land.    Patrick  Clinch  held  this  since  1783. 

t'  Colomba  Morgan,  a  citizen  of  Dublin,  in  1777, 
« granted  7044  florins  for  students  in  philosophy!  and 
"  theology ;  and  also  for  two  priests,  natives  of  Dublin, 
<'  with  an  obligation  to  say  one  mass  daily  for  the  founder. 
^  The  presentation  was  in  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 
^  Patrick  Ryan  and  Edward  Purcell  enjoyed  this  since 
« 1781. 

^(  J.  Kent,  in  1781,  granted  7007  florins  for  students  in 
^  all  departments,  to  be  held  by  his  kindred  to  the  fourth 
"  degree,  and  then  by  natives  of  Lismore  and  Water- 
'^ford.  The  presentation  was  in  the  Archbishop  of 
^'  Waterford  and  the  visitors  and  president  of  the  col- 
**  lege.     Matthew  Power  enjoyed  this  since  1784.         ^ 

"  —  O'Brien,  in  1769,  granted  217  florins  for  Irish 
''  students  in  philosophy  and  theology ;  and  225  florins  to 
^  an  Irish  priest  to  say  mass  daily  in  the  college  chapel. 
''  The  Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  president  of  the  college 
"  were  the  presenters.  Patrick  Ryan  and  Philip  Daniel 
"  McCarthy  held  this  since  1782  and  1784,  respectively. 

«  T.  Sullivan,  in  1699,  granted  732  florins  for  Irish 
**  students  in  rhetoric,  philosophy,  and  theology,  for  his 
"  relations  of  the  second  degree,  provided  they  were  bom 
^  in  Ireland.  The  presentation  was  in  two  doctors  of 
"  theology,  chosen  by  the  rector  in  "  striqt  faculty."  John 
"  Fitzgerald  and  M.  Sullivan  enjoyed  this  since  1780,  M. 
''  Sullivan  since  1782,  and  Daniel  Magrath  since  1784. 

<'  Florence  Sullivan,  in  1732,  granted  1098  florins  for 
"  students  in  philosophy,  theology,  law,  and  medicine,  a 
^  preference  to  be  given  his  kindred  to  the  third  degree, 


mK 


^j 


■§ 


fm^ 


r^y^:  .  I 


196 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


"  then  to  the  O'Sullivans  of  Keny^  the  McCarthys  of 
**  Kerry,  or  natives  of  Kerry,  Cashel,  or  Ulster.  The 
**  eldest  doctor  in  theology,  tne  president  of  the  college, 
**  and  the  eldest  visitor  were  the  presenters. 

**  Independent  of  the  above  grant,  the  college  was  en- 
M  dowed  by  Urban  VIII.,  by  a  M.  Shinkel,  and  by  Mat- 
**thew  Prosser,  a  merchant  of  Bruges,  and  native  of 
M  Waterford,  with  sums  making  altogether  about  8000 
**  florins,  besides  the  bequest  of  Tnomas  Stapleton, 
**  which  provided  for  seven  students  in  various  depart- 
**  ments,  and  to  which  we  have  already  alluded." 

Here  we  find  th^  exiled  merchant's  profits  and  the  ex- 
lied  soldier's  stipend,  the  widow's  mite,  and  the  bishop's 
and  professor's  income,  all  devoted  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  only  schools  open  to  the  Irish  race ! 

But  Louvain  was  not  alone  "  a  city  of  refuge  "  to  our 
fathers.  At  Paris,  Thomas  Fleming  obtained  the  foun- 
dation of  an  Irish  college,  which  still  exists.  It  was 
endowed  by  the  Bourbons,  confiscated  at  the  period  of 
the  revolution,  but  restored  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte  to 
the  Irish  church.  Here  King  James  deposited  the  Irish 
manuscript  in  his  possession,  and  here,  in  1730,  the 
Abb4  McGeoghehan  pondered  over  their  contents,  when 

Ereparing  that  laborious  and  conscientious  history  of 
is  country,  worthy  of  being  dedicated  to  the  heroic 
"  brigade." 

In  Lisle,  Douay,  Bourdeaux,  Rouen,  and  St.  Omer's, 
there  we^e  also  Irish  colleg«*9.  O'Connell  graduated  at 
the  latter. 

At  Antwerp,  in  1629,  the  Irish  College-  of  St.  Patrick 
was  founded  by  Dr.  Seagrave,  a  native  of  Leinster.  It 
was  burned  in  1680,  but  rebuilt  by  Pope  Innocent  XI. 
and  the  Propaganda.  Seagrave  was  the  first,  and  Dr. 
Jacob  Talbot  the  second  president. 

At  Salamanca  and  Alcala,  there  were  either  bourses 
or  entire  houses  for  Irish  students.  At  Seville,  there 
was  an  Irish  college,  of  which,  in  1640,  Dr.  Dominick 
Lynch,  afterwards  Recteur  Magnifique  of  the  University 
of  Seville,  was  president. 

At  Coimbra,  there  were  Irish  bourses.     Luke  Wad- 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


197 


ding,  Bonaventura  Baron,  Primate  Curtis,  and  Dr.  Doyle 
were  educate<^  there.  In  Lisbon,  Dominick  O'Daly,  a 
native  of  Kerry,  procured  the  founding  of  an  Irish  col- 
lege by  the  last  Spanish  viceroy,  the  Duchess  of  Mantua. 
Alter  the  revolution  of  1640,  wtiich  ])laced  the  family  of 
Braganza  on  the  throne  of  Portugal,  O'Daly  rose  rapidly. 
He  was  successively  confessor  to  the  queen,  inquisitor 
general,  and  ambassador  to  France.  He  declined  the  then 
rich  Indian  archbishopric  of  Goa,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  (1662)  was  Bishop  elect  of  Coimbra  —  the  pri-, 
matial  see  of  Portugal.  He  not  only  founded  the 
Lisbon  College,  but  also  a  convent  for  Insh  nuns  in  the 
same  city,  and  a  house  for  Irish  students  at  Coimbra. 
His  two  works  (the  "  Geraldines "  and  the  "  Persecu- 
tions ")  have  been  frequently  quoted,  in  the  first  part  of 
this  history. 

At  Prague,  there  were  Irish  bourses,  and  we  have  seen 
mention  of  an  "Irish  college" — we  are  not  informed 
as  to  its  history.  Attached  to  other  Austrian  colleges 
were  several  Irish  bourses. 

At  Rome,  one  of  the  greatest  Irishmen  of  his  day, 
Father  Luke  Wadding,  founded  for  Irish  Franciscans 
the  College  of  St.  Isidoi'u,  in  1625;*  in  which  eood 
work  he  was  much  assisted  by  the  noble  family  of  Bar- 
berini.  In  1628,  he  induced  Cardinal  Ludovisius,  "the 
protector  of  Ireland,"  to  found  a  secular  Irish  collese, 
which  is  distinguished  from  the  other  by  the  name  of  its 
noble  founder.  Wadding  was  twice  president.  Hickey, 
Fleming,  Walsh,  and  Barqn,  all  distinguished  scholars, 
were  among  the  earliest  professors  at  St.  Isidore's. 
Wadding,  who,  for  nearly  forty  years,  was  the  volun- 
tary ambassador  of  Ireland  at  Rome,  and  yet  so  hus- 
banded his  time  as  to  be  able  to  bring  out  the  numerous 
works  which  bear  his  name,  as  editor  or  author,  is  buried 
in  his  own  foundation,  where  his  tomb  is  still  preserved, 
by  the  fathers  of  St.  Isidorcf 

*  Father  Wadding  was  nephew  to  Peter  Lombard,  Archbishop  of 
Armagh.  He  was  bom  at  Waterford,  in  1588,  and  died  at  Borne,  in 
16fi7.  There  is  a  sketch  of  his  edifying  life,  in  McGee's  Irish  Writers. 
Dublin,  2846. 

t  Waooing  is  the  author  of  the  great  work,  the  Annals  of  the  Frian 

17* 


1 


I 


m 


''■fi 


:f\ 


.  I' 


198 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


li^'i?''  f 


The  Lndovisian  Irish  College  was  famous  for  the 
students  it  sent  forth,  throughout  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Oliver  Plunkett  was  of  the  number.  This  college 
was  administered  by  the  order  of  Jesuits — those  illus- 
trious victors  and  martyrs  of  Christianity. 

The  effect  of  these  active  and  numerous  Irish  institu- 
tions throughout  Catholic  Europe  must  have  been  con- 
siderable, not  only  in  the  cities  where  they  stood,  but 
on  the  general  tone  and  turn  of  continental  opinion. 
Every  college  had  its  concursus,  its  Lrish  celebrations,  its 
printing  press,  and  its  atmosphere  of  sympathy.  AU 
literature  and  all  statesmanship  were  cognizant  of  the 
fact,*  and  agreed  upon  the  cause — the  merciless  English 
persecutions.  Until  the  wars  that  followed  the  French 
revolution,  it  was  impossible  for  England  to  keep  or 
make  partisans  at  Rome,  Lisbon,  Madrid,  Vienna,  or 
Paris.  Her  generals  and  diplomatists  complain  bitterly 
that  the  very  courts  they  succored  and  served  had  no 
real  respect  for  them  or  their  kingdom.  The  fact  seems 
to  have  been,  that  the  Irish  colleges,  with  their  numerous 
preachers  and  writers,  had  created,  in  every  Catholic 
country,  a  hearty  detestation  of  the  intolerance  and  per- 
fidy of  English  governments.  It  is  among  the  strange 
signs  of  our  providential  history  that,  just  as  the  French 
philosophy  and  revolution  had  spread  abroad,  Irish  col- 
leges were  suffered  to  be  restored  at  home.  Under  this 
last  Gothic  storm,  not  yet  appeased,  the  Irish  in  Ireland 
have  turned  earnestly  to  the  erection  of  native  insti- 
tutions of  educatioh,  which,  for  fifty  years  back,  have 
not  been  openly  proscribed. 

The  old  colleges  of  the  penal  times  deserve  our  per- 
petual gratitude  and  remembrance.     Those  of  Bome, 


Minors,  wliicli  took  him  above  twenty  yean  to  compile.  He  also  wrote 
the  Writers  of  the  Order  of  Friars  Minors ;  a  Life  of  w^selm,  Bishop 
of  Lucca ;  a  Life  of  Thomasius,  Patriarch  of  Alexandria ;  a  Life  of 
John  Dnns  Scotus,  &c.,  &c.  He  was  one  of  the  theologians  appointed 
to  examine  the  tenets  of  Jansenius,  at  Rome,  and  to  maintain,  before  the 
congregation,  the  immaculate  conception.  In  1645,  he  declined  the  car- 
dinalate.     «  Fra  Luca  "  is  not  forgotten  in  Italian  biographies. 

*  Le  Sage  and  Goldsmith  both  make  striking  use  of  that  cMOmoD 
character  on  the  continent  —  the  Irish  student. 


PROTESTANt    REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


199 


Louvain,  Lisbon,  Salamanca,  St.  Oraer's,  and  Paris,* 
were  particularly  instrumental  in  keeping  faith  and 
learning  alive  among  our  race,  and  in  sending  into  Ire- 
land chiefs,  counsellors,  and  true  civilizers.  They  coun- 
teracted the  barbarous  effects  of  the  penal  code.  If  it 
had  not  been  for  them,  Ireland,  in  all  probability,  would 
have  been  driven  into  worse  than  Tartar  darkness  and 
savageness. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Irish  colleges  were  those 
memorable  brigades  and  regiments  of  Catholic  exiles 
whose  courage  and  fidelity  have  done  so  much  to  honor 
the  national  character.  Their  serving  only  Catholic 
states  made  Ireland  an  active  agent  in  almost  every 
action  of  that  great  contest  which  was  the  necessary 
consequence  of  the  continental  "reformation."  From 
the  time  of  Luther  till  the  time  of  Robespierre,  Europe 
divided  naturally  into  a  Protestant  and  a  Catholic  camp. 
Sweden,  Holland,  England,  and  Prussia  are  on  the  one 
side ;  Austria,  Spain,  and  the  Italian  states  on  the  other. 
France  and  Bavaria,  from  motives  of  position  and  policy, 
sometimes  cooperated  with  one,  sometimes  with  the 
other,  and  sometimes  formed  a  third  party.  Protestant- 
ism, in  the  words  of  BiXrke,  "  introduced  other  interests 
into  aU  countries  than  those  which  arose  from  their 
locality  and  natural  circumstances."  The  same  profound 
observer  adds,  "  It  would  be  to  repeat  the  history  of  the 
two  last  centuries,  to  exemplify  the  effects  of  this  revolu- 
tion." f  It  does  not  surprise  us,  who  regard  Ireland  as 
representing  the  church  militant,  to  count  the  large  num- 
ber of  men  and  captains  she  supplied  to  the  Cathqlic 
side  of  the  European  contest  between  "  the  reformation  " 
in  the  sixteenth,  and  "  the  revolution  "  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

After  the  battle  of  Kinsale,  O' Sullivan,  Beare,  and 
those  excepted  from  James's  amnesty,  entered  the  Span- 

•  The  Irish  colleges  at  Rome,  Lisbon,  and  Paris  are  still  devoted  to 
their  original  purpose.  At  present,  (1862,)  Dr.  Kirby  is  president  at 
Rome,  Dr.  Gartland  at  Lisbon,  and  Dr.  Miley  at  Paris.  The  present 
primate  of  Ireland  (Dr.  Cullen)  was  Dr.  Kirby's  predecessor  at  Home. 

t  Thoughts  on  French  Affairs,  in  December,  1791. 


m 


m^- 


200 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


ish  service,  and  some  rose  to  high  rank  in  naval^  and  mil- 
itary expeditions.  O' Sullivan  commanded  a  ship  in 
^Philip  IL's  expedition  against  the  Tm'ks,  and  in  one 
engagement  had  a  brother  shot  at  his  side.  From  the 
'Specimen  Spain  then  had,  her  rulers  became  anxious  to 
enlist  more.  From  Ulster,  after  the  exile  of  the  O' Neils 
and  O'Donnells,  she  obtained  whole  regiments,  and  such 
captains  as  the  O'Bonnells  and  O'ReiUys ;  from  Gralway 
she  obtained,  later,  many  recruits,  among  whom  certain 
Blakes  and  O'Connors  rose  to  eminence.  They  served 
valiantly  against  the  Dutch,  the  Turks,  and  the  English, 
throughout  that  century.  In  Spain  and  South  Ameripa 
their  descendants  kept  the  vantage  ground,  and  did 
truly  and  valiantly.*  In  the  last  century,  Spain  contin- 
ued to  recruit  in  Ireland.  In  1708,^  she  embodied  two 
Lrish  regiments  of  dragoons  and  three  of  foot.  In  the 
defence  of  Gran,  in  1732,  and  the  Italian  campaiglis  of 
the  two  next  years,  these  regiments  won  honor.  In  1743, 
in  the  battle  of  Velletri,  between  Spain  and  Austria, 
there  were  Irish  soldiers  on  both  sides.  Austria  tri- 
umphed, but  the  Irish  soldiers  of  Spain  protected  the 
retred,t,  and  rescued  the  infant,  Don  Philip.  Lacy,  Law- 
less, O'Reilly,  and  Wogan,  their  best  officers,  were  made 
grandees  of  Spain  after  these  campaigns.  Lawless,  by 
the  arrest  of  the  Duke  de  Medini  Cell,  was  said  to  have 
saved  the  monarchy.  He  was  afterwards  governor  of 
.  Majorca.  Lacy  was  sent  ambassador  to  Petersburg; 
where  he  found  a  relative  high  in  favor.  This  was  Field 
Marshal  Lacy,  the  conqueror  of  the  Tartars  and  of 
Sweden,  by  whose  prudent  generalship  Charles  XII.  was 
routed  at  Pultowa,  in  1709.f 

Another  branch  of  this  notable  house  gave,  in  the  same 
age,  two  generals  and  aulic  councillors  to  Austria. 
Austria,  before  and  after  the  separation  from  Spain,  was 
loijig  partial  to  Irish  soldiers.  The  Brownes,  of  Camas, 
in  Limerick, /exiled  for  their  faith,  gave  a  field  marshal, 


*  It  is  hfurdly  necessary  to  allude  to  the  Generals  O'Donnell,  Blake, 
and  Sarsfield,  of  the  Peninsultnr  war ;  or  to  O'Donju,  Viceroy  of  Mexico. 
O'Higgins,  Captain  General  of  Chili,  or  O'Doimell,  Captain  General  of 
Cuba. 

t  Manstein's  Memoirs. 


PR0TS8TANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


aoi 


two  generals,  and  other  distinguished  officers,  to  that 
empire.  One  of  these  generals  was  made  a  baron,  and 
governor  of  Deva,  in  Transylvania ;  the  other,  married  to 
the  daughter  of  Field  Marshal  Lacy,  was  naturalized  in 
Russia,  and  made  governor  of  Livonia. 

Field  Marshal  Ulysses  Browne  had  the  good  fortune  to 
beat  the  King  of  Prussia  and  to  liberate  the  Kin^  of 
Poland.  He  died  in  1757,  much  mourned  by  Alaria 
Theresa.  Another  field  marshal  of  the  same  name  and 
family  died  at  Vienna,  in  1784. 

The  Carlow  family  of  Kavanagh  gave  five  general 
officers  to  Austria.  In  1766,  Charles  Kavanagh  was 
governor  of  Prague  and  count  of  the  empife;  about 
the  same  time,  Charles,  his  cousin,  held  the  rank  of  gen- 
eral and  count ;  John  Baptist  Kavanagh  was  a  general 
and  aulic  oouncillc;.  Sir  James  Kavanagh  and  Boron 
Henry  Kavanagh  were  distinguished  in  the  Austro- 
Prench  war. 

The  Methian  family  of  Nugent  has  been  naturalized  in 
Austria  since  the  seventeenth  century;  has  given  two 
field  marshals  and  several  aulic  councillors,  ambassadont, 
and  generals  to  the  imperial  service.  Li  the  "  thirty  years* 
war,"  the  names  of  O'Dwyer,  Butler,  and  Maguire  fre- 
quently occur.  On  the  Austrian  army  list,  a  few  years 
ago,  there  were  twenty-five  eminent  officers  of  Irish 
descent. 

The  other  Catholic  German  power,  Bavaria,  fcrflowing 
the  example  of  the  rest,  sought  to  strengthen  itself  with 
Irish  arms.  Baron  Harrold,  a  native  of  Limerick,  and 
colonel  in  that  service,  was  chamberlain  to  the  king  in 
1780.  ■ 

The  King  of  Naples,  also,  had  his  Irish  guards  ^ 
whom.  Sir  Balthazar  O'Neil  was  colond,  towards  i.  ^ 
close  of  the  last  century.  The  guard  was  composed  df 
what  was  formerly  called  the  regiment  of  Limerick. 
At  Velettri  they  rescued  the  king's  person  from  the  Aus- 
trian army. 

Poor  Poland,  also,  had  its  Irish  soldiers.  Field  Mar- 
shal Maurice  Kavanagh  devoted  his  life  to  defei^  th&t 
nationality  ag^Aagt  the  infanaous  partitioiUBts. 


202 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


I 


But  the  most  celebrated  Irish  captains  are  those  who 
served  under  the  lilies  of  France.  An  Irish  company  of 
horse  served,  in  1652,  under  Turenne,  against  the  great 
Cond^.  In  the  campaigns  of  1673,  1674,  and  1675, 
under  Turenne,  two  or  three  Irish  regiments  were  in  every 
engagement  along  the  Rhone.  At  Altenheim,  their  com- 
mander. Count  Hamilton,  was  created  a  major  general 
of  France. 

In  1690,  the  old  regiments,  with  the"  six  new  ones 
sent  over  by  James,  were  formed  into  a  litrigade,  and 
in  1690,  1691,  1692,  and  1693,  they  went  through  the 
campaigns  of  Savoy  and  Italy,  under  Catinat^  and 
against  Prince  Eugene;  Justin  McCarthy,  Lord  Mount- 
cashel,  who  commanded  them,  died  at  Bareges  of 
wounds  received  at  Straffardo.  At  Marsiglia,  they  routed, 
in  1693,  the  allies,  killing  Duke  Schomberg,  son  to  the 
Huguenot  general  who  fell  at  the  Boyne.  -  \ 

The  "new"  brigade  was  employed  under  Luxem- 
burg, and  against  King  William,  in  Flanders,  in  1692 
and  1693.  -  At  Namur  and  Enghien,  they  were  superb. 
Sarsfield,  their  brigadier,  on  the  latter  day  was  made 
mareschal-de-camp.  At  Landen,  on  the  29th  of  July, 
1693,  France  again  triumphed,  and,  with  the  cry,  "  Re- 
member Limerick  and  British  faith,"  Sarsfield  pursued 
the  rou^e  of  the  treaty-breakers.'  A  ball  reached  him  in 
that  proud  hour,  and  he  fell  mortally  wounded.  Pressing 
his  hand  upon  the  wound,  he  took  it  away  dripping  with 
blood,  andT  only  said,  "  O  that  this  was  for  Ireland ! " 
So  died  one  of  the  most  devoted  soldiers  of  the  cross 
and  of  Irish  nationality  —  a  worthy  grandson  of  Rory 
O*  Moore. 

The  two  brigades  in  the  same  war  lost  their  chiefs, 
and  were  decimated  by  their  many  desperate  charges. 
In  1695,  all  the  remaining  veterans  were  organized  into 
twelve  complete  regiments,  four  of  horse  and  eight  of 
infantry,  under  the  descendants  of  their  first  officers.* 

*  Tht  king's  regiment  of  cavalry :  —  Dominick  Sheldon,  colonel ;  Ed- 
mond  Prendergast,  lieutenant  colonel ;  Edmond  Butler,  major ;  4  cap- 
tains, 6  lieutenants,  6  comets. 

The  queen's  regim^t  of  cavalry :  —  Lord  Qalmoy,  colonel ;  Ben6  de 


f     rj'-    :  «;(,'  ' 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN  IRELAND. 


203 


f    i 


m 


Dse  who 
pany  of 
le  OTeat 
d  1675, 
in  every 
eir  com- 
general 

w  ones 
tde,  and 
mgh  the 
lat^  and 
Mount- 
2ges  of 
T  routed, 
»  to  the 

Luxem- 
1692 
superb. 
IS  made 
of  July, 
py,  «  Re- 
pursued 
i  him  in 
Pressing 
ingwith 
eland!" 
lie  cross 
of  Rory 

LT  chiefs, 
charges, 
zed  into 
sight  of 
officers.* 

onel;  Ed- 
}r ;  4  cap- 

;  Reii6  de 


Till  the  revolution,  in  1791,  they  took  part  in  every  war 
in  which  France  was  engaged  From  1691  **to  the 
year  1745,  after  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  above  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  (450,000 !  )  Irishmeii  lost  their 
lives  in  the  service  of  Fiance."  * 

Many  of  the  officers  of  the  brigade  founded  distin- 
guished families  in  France,  still  represented  in  the  politics 
and  the  campaigns  of  that  brave  nation.  O'Brien  was 
created  mareschal  of  France  and  commander  of  Langue- 
doc ;  McMahon,  a  marquis,  and  knight  of-  St.  Louis ; 
Dillon  was  created  a  viscount  —  the  same  rank  as 
Turenne's;  Lally  was  made  governor  of  Pondicherry; 
Roche  (who  passed  into  the  service  of  Sardinia)  viscount 
of  Fermoy ;  and  bo  with  many  others. 

French  recruiting  for  the  brigade  was  carried  on  sys- 

Camd,  a  Frenchman,  lieutenant  colonel ;  James  Tobin,  major ;  4  captains, 
6  lieutenants,  6  comets. 

The  king's  regiment  of  dragoons :  —  Lord  Viscount  Kilmallock,  (Sars- 
field,)  colonel ;  Turenne  O'Carroll,  lieutenant  colonel ;  De  Salles,  a 
Frenchman,  major ;  5  captains,  14  lieutenants,  14  comets.      • 

The  queen's  regiment  of  dragoons :  —  Charles  Viscount  Clare,  colonel ; 
Alexander  Bamewal,  lieutenant  colonel;  Charles  Maxwell,  major; 
5  captains,  14  lieutenants,  14  comets. 

Tne  king's  infiiintry  regiment  of  guards : — T^Hlliam  Dorington,  colonel ; 
Oliver  O'Gara,  lieutenant  colonel ;  John  Bothe,  major ;  12  captains,  28 
lieutenants,  28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns.  ' 

The  queen's  regiment  of  infantry :  —  Simon  Luttrel,  colonel ;  Francis 
Wachop,  lieutenant  colonel;  James  O'Brien,  major;  12  captains,  28 
lieutenants,  28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns. 

An  infantry  regiment  of  marines :  —  The  Lord  Grand-prior,  colonel ; 
Nicholas  Fitzgerald,  lieutenant  colonel ;  Bichard  Nugent,  second  lieu- 
tenant colonel ;  Edmond  O'Madden,  major ;  11  captains,  28  lieutenants, 
28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns. 

The  Limerick  regiment  of  infantry :  —  Sir  John  Fitzgerald,  colonel ; 
Jeremiah  O'Mahouy,  lieutenant  colonel ;  William  Thessy,  major;  12 
captains,  28  lieutenants,  28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns. 

The  Charlemont  regiment  of  infantry: — Gordon  O'Neill,  colonel; 
Hugh  McMahon,  lieutenant  colonel ;  Ecbnond  Murphy,  major ;  12  cap- 
tains, 28  lieutenants,  28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns. 

Dublin  regiment  of  infEtntry: — John  Power,  colonel;  John  Power, 
lieutenant  colonel ;  Theobald  Burke,  major ;  12  captains,  28  lieutenants, 
28  sub-lieutenants ;  14  ensigns. 

The  Athlone  regiment  of  infantry:  —  Walter  Burke,  colonel;  Owen 
McCarty,  lieutenant  colonel;  Edmond  Cantwell,  m^or;  12  captains, 
28  lieutenants,  28  sub-lieutenants,  14  ensigns.  —  McGeoghegan,  Hutory 
of  Ireland^  pp.  605,  606. 

*  Authority,  Clarke,  Due  de  Feltre,  minister  at  war  in  Franoe  — 
cited  in  O'Connor's  Military  Memoirs. 


;S^'! 


.Zv^-^'    ri-.>{*~f 


irTTEMPTB  TO   B8TABLISH   THB 


t^maticallv  in  the  south  and  west,  long  after  the  silrvi- 
vofs  of  Limerick  had  fired  their  last  shot.  Smugglers 
from  the  Channel  Islands,  in  their  light  coasting  craft,  ran 
in  disguised  priests  and  other  contraband  goods,  and  car- 
ried away  many  a  tall  fellow,  food  for  powder,  and  can- 
didate for  glory.  Severe  laws  were  enacted  against 
recruiting,  and  those  taken  in  the  fact  were  summarily 
executed.  In  Queen  Anne's  reign,  there  is  mention  of 
two  or  three  such  executions.  Still  this  perilous  trade 
was  prosecuted  by  the  smugglers  with  unwearied  energy. 
Recruits  were  usually  booked  as  "wild  geese"  — a 
name  which  came  to  be  synonymous  with  soldier,  in 
those  troubled  times.  Many  a  popular  ballad  recorded 
the  parting  of  the  "  wild  geese  "  from  their  native  shore, 
and  their  achievements  abroad.  In  those  days,  ballads 
took  the  place  of  the  broadsheets  and  newspapers,  and 
foreign  politics  were  f^cited  and  sung  at  fair  and  market, 
in  allegories  which  only  the  initiated  could  comprehend. 
Like  Pythagoras,  the  itinerant  songster  spoke  in  hints 
and  proverbs,  making  his  audience  "  see,  as  through  a 
g'lasSf  darkly." 

In  the  war  of  the  succession,  the  chief  glory  of  the 
brigade  was  the  defence  of  Cremona,  and  their  share 
in  the  battles  of  Blenheim  and  Ramillies.  On  the 
latter  field,  O'Brien,  Lord  Clare,  fell  mortally  wounded, 
leaving  after  him  a  son  to  conquer,  at  Fontenoy.  Riva 
surrendered  to  Dillon,  and  Alsira  to  O'Mahony.  On 
the  field  of  Almanza,  13th  March,  1707,  (a  date  British 
historians  duly  "  overlook,")  the  French  artd  Irish  killed 
three  thousand  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  forces,  and  took  ten 
thousand  prisoners  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  stands 
of  colors.  This  battle  compelled  Q,ueen  Anhe  to  dis- 
miss Marlborough,  and  accept  the  humiliating  peace  of 
Utrecht. 

But  the  hottest  and  proudest  day  the  brigade  ever  saw 
was  a  May  day,  in  the  yea*^  of  our  Lord  1745.  The 
French  army,  commanded  by  Saxe,  and  accompanied  by 
King  Louis,  leaving  eighteen  thousand  men  to  besiege 
Namur,  and  six  thousand  to  guard  the  Scheldt,  took  a 
position  between  that  river  and  the  British,  having  their 
centre  at  the  village  of  Fontenoy.    The  Biitish  and  Dutch 


PROTBSTANT  ABFORMATIOIf   IN  IBELAND. 


90S 


nnder  King  George's  son,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  were 
fifty-five  thousand  strone;  the  French  forty-five  thousand. 
After  a  hard  day's  fighting,  victory  seemed  to  declare 
tigainat  France,  and  King  Louis,  who  was  present^  pre- 
pared  for  flight  At  this  moment.  Marshal  Saxe  ordered  a 
final  charge,  by  the  seven  Irish  regiments,  under  O'Brien, 
Count  Thomond.  The  tide  was  turned  again  to  the 
cry  of  "  Remember  Limerick."  France  was  delivered, 
England  humbled,  and  Holland  reduced  from  a  first  to  a 
tecond-rate  power  upon  that  day,  partly  by  Irish  hearts 
and  hands.  With  utter  self-devotion,  they  flung  them- 
selves on  the  enemy.  They  smote  them  like  a  torrent, 
but  on  the  conquered  ground  their  blood  was  shed  like 
rain.  One  fourth  of  all  the-  officers  (including  Dillon) 
were  killed,  and  one  third  of  all  the  men. 

Until  Waterloo,  Fontenoy  stood  unequalled  in  mili- 
tary history.  But  the  brave  brigade  never  recovered  its 
lost  blood  upon  that  field.  To  the  last,  the  remnant 
kept  their  colors  and  their  character.  In  Germany  with 
Saxe,  in  the  East  with  Lally,  in  Canada  with  Montcalm, 
the  last  of  that  heroic  brotherhood  fought  till  they  died. 
Their  favorite  chiefs  all  fell  on  the  field:  McCarthy, 
Sarsfield,  the  two  O'Briens,  and  the  two  Dillons,  died  , 
in  battle,  and  all  victorious  against  England.  The  last 
of  the  Bourbons  gave  the  last  of  the  brigade  a  flag  with 
this  motto :  — 

« 1698-1792. 
Semper  et  Ubique  Fidelb.** 

When,  in  1745,  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Fontenoy 
reached  King  George,  he  exclaimed,  in  the  bitterness  of 
his  disappointment, ."  Cursed  be  the  laws  that  deprived 
me  of  such  subjects ! "  Singular  confession !  The  penal 
laws  were  found,  after  a  trial  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  to  have  served  no  purpose  of  state  policy !  They 
had  exiled,  but  not  extinguished,  the  faithful  Lrish  race ! 
By  the  camp  fires  of  Fonteroy  the  discovery  was  made. 
The  British  might  run  and  read,  but  the  end  was  not  yet. 
The  reformation  had  done  its  work  in  England,  if  not  in 
Lreland ;  and  those  who  had  raised  the  spirit  of  persecu- 
tion were  unable,  of  themselves,  to  conjure  it  down ! 
18 


■'r[f-li 


ATTEMPTS  TO  E8TABLI8H   TBS 


^ 


11 

a 

!9ii 


w 


CHAPTER  VI. 


>  I 


THE  JACOBITES  AND  THE  IBISH  CATHOLICS THE  STUABTS  CON- 
SULTED AT  BOME  OSr  THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  IBISH  BISHOPS.  ■> 
THE  BAPPABEBS THE  WANDEBINQ  MINSTBELS  AND  "NEWS- 
HEN." 

King  James  II.  died  at  Si  Germain's,  in  1701,  and 
was  buried  at  tbe  English  Benedictines'  church.  Louis 
immediately  acknowledged  his  son,  under  the  title  of 
James  III.,  by  which  name  he  received  not  only  the 
French  court,  but  also  those  faithful  refugees,  chiefly 
Scotch  and  Irish,  who  still  clung  to  his  family.  Although, 
at  the  time  of  his  birth,  the  enemies  of  his  father  pre- 
tended to  doubt  his  legitimacy,  the  loyalists,  or,  as  they 
are  better  known,  "  the  Jacobites,"  in  both  Ireland  and 
Britain,  extended  to  him  the  allegiance  due  to  thet  law- 
ful sovereign.*  During  tlie  entire  reign  of  Ann^,  the 
partisans  of  the  old  dynasty  were  active  and  sanguine, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  establishment  of  the  present  succes- 
sion that  they  began  to  conceal  their  opinions,  or  ceased 
to  conspire  for  their  success. 

The  result  of  the  Scotch  rising  of  that  year  disheart- 
ened no  true  Jacobite.  The  battles  of  Killiecrankie, 
under  Dundee,  and  Sheriffmuir,  under  Mar,  were  both 
victories.  Dundee's  death,  and  the  military  incapacity 
of  James  himself,  who  arrived  in  January,  1716,  in  Aber- 
deen, in  time  to  spoil  his  last  chance,  were  supposed  fully 
to  account  for  the  failure  of  that  attempt.  Hence  the 
rumored  Spanish  expedition  of  1719,  and  Bishop  Atter- 
bury's  plot,  in  1722,  filled  the  hearts  of  the  party  with 
sanguine  expectations,  destined  not  to  be  fulfilled,  nor 
yet  to  be  extinguished. 

In  1702,  there  were  rumors  of  a  Jacobite  rising  in 
Munster;  and  upon  the  evidence  of  "three  worthless 
fellows,"  Major  GeofFery  Keating  and  three  respectable 
citizens  of  Limerick  were  arrested,  and  sent  to  Dublin  with 
a  troop  of  dragoons.  "They  were  remitted  back  to  Lim- 
erick, tried  at  the  assizes,  and  honorably  acquitted."  * 

*  Fenrar's  History  of  Limerick,  p.  125, 


I 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IBELAND. 


207 


Like  liimors  were  rife  concerning  Gkilway  and  other 
places,  at  several  periods,  but  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  good  foundation  for  any  of  them.  In  1743,  when 
such  a  rumor  prevailed,  a  privy  councillor  proposed  that 
a  massacre  of  the  Irish  Catholics  should  be  made,  on  the 
ground  that,  by  the  rising  of  1641,  that  community  had 
put  themselves  out  of  the  pale  of  ci/Uization,  and  ought 
to  be  destro'^ed.* 

James  III  and  his  son  were  most  anxious  to  keep  up 
th^r  party  in  Ireland.  The  officers  of  the  birigade  were 
much  courted  by  them,  and  the  new  commissions  came 
chiefly  through  their  hands.  The  popes,  adopting  a 
similar  policy,  constantly  consulted  James  on  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Irish  bishops.  For  fifty  years  after  the 
treaty  of  Limerick,  no  mitre  was  conferred  without  the 
concurrence  of  the  Stuarts.f  Thus  the  Irish  on  the 
continent,  as  well  clerics  as  soldiers,  were  kept  in  close 
connection  with  the  old  dynasty. 

The  population  remaining  at  home,  after  the  open 
violation  of  the  treaty,  began  to  look  with  eagerness  for 
the  return  of  a  Catholic  sovereign,  who,  it  was  hoped, 
would  be  made  wise  by  adversity,  and  would  do  them 
justice.  Although  a  dull  and  sullen  silence  reigned  over 
the  greater  part  of  the  island,  the  minds  of  men  wer& 
far  ^om  settled.  In  the  mountainous  districts,  as  the 
Mourne,  the  Wicklow  and  Carlow  Highlands,  and  the 
mountains  of  Tipperary  and  Kerry,  there  still  remained 
bands  of  the  old  guerillas  of  1688,  known  as  ^^  Rappa- 
rees''  —  men  generally  the  descendants  of  good  families, 
whose  estates  had  suffered  confiscation,  and  who  had 
nothing  further  to  fear  from  outlawry.  Even  in  this 
wild  life,  they  usually  retained  the  bearing  of  well-born 
men,  and  often  exercised  a  chivalrous  protectorate  over 
the  poor  and  the  injured.  In  a  state  of  imperfect  inter- 
course and  police,  they  had  a  thousand  opportunities  for 
displays  of  tact  and  courage ;  and  if  Hialf  the  traditions  of 


*  More's  Captain  Rock,  p.  140.     Longman's  dth  edition,  London, 
1824. 
t  Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  about  the  year  1767,  discontinued  this  usage. 


*f*iim 


f 


*1,! 


ATTEITPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THB 


them  are  trae,  they  displayed  many  qaali^es  Worthy  of 
the  highest  admiration. 

The  first  Rapparees,  by  Kin^  James's  reports,  had 
made  their  mark  on  the  open  field  before  they  took  to 
the  hills.  <<  One  O'Connor,"  a  Kildare  Rapparee,  *<  with 
sixty  men  on  horseback,  and  as  many  on  toot,  surprised 
two  companies  of  grenadiers,  whom  they  cut  to  pieces, 
then  went  to  Phillipstown,  where  they  kilusd  one  hundred 
and  twenty  dragoons,  burned  the  town,  and  carred  away 
a  great  booty  of  horse."*  This  was  in  midwinter,  1691. 
Another  '^Rapparee,"  Anthony  O' Carroll,  surnamed  <<the 
Tall,"  took  and  held,  during  1690  and  1691,  the  castle 
and  town  of  Neuaffh,  and  when  obliged  to  vacate  it, 
brought  with  him  nve  hundred  men,  in  good  order,  to 
Limerick.f  William's  chaplain  and  historiographer  con- 
fesses, frartkly  enough,  the  activity  of  the  Rapparees. 
**  They  are  not  to  be  |^ept  in  their  own  province,  {Con- 
naught,]  but  can  both  keep  us  out,  and  also  come  among 
Us  whenever  they  have  a  mind  to  it ! "  f 

Among  the  best  remembered  of  the  successors  of  these 
gallant  guerillas  are  O'Keefe  and  Callaghan,  in  Mun- 
ster;  Higgins,  Grace,  and  the  galloping  O'Hogan, 
in  the  western  and  midland  counties;  O'Dempsey 
and  Kavanagh,  ("the  White  Sergeant,")  in  Leinster. 
These  were  all  men  of  some  military  experience,  and  of 
ancient  family,  who  are  not  to  be  confounded  with  the 
leaders  of  the  agrarian  societies  formed  about  the  middle 
of  the  century.  The  malice  of  party  has  endeavored  to 
stigmatize  them  as  cutthroats  and  highwaymen,  but  the 
contemporaneous  facts  entitle  the  Irish  Rapparees  to  rank 
with  the  guerillas  of  Spain  and  the  gallant  outlaws  of 
every  defeated  nationality ;  with  Wallace  and  Tell,  and 
Scanderberg  and  Marion,  they  are  entitled  to  stand ; 
on  the  same  ground,  and  in  the  same  light  of  impartial 
history. 

Besides  the  brigade,  the  clergy,  the  peasantry,  and  the 
Rapparees,  there  was  another  body  of  Jacobites  not  to  be 

*  King  James's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.  p.  433. 
t  Harris's  life  of  Kin^  WilUam,  p.  297. 
i  Story's  Impartial  History*  vol.  iL  p.  147> 


f   .'.hi 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


200 


1   '■«■ 

4 


forgottftn  —  the    poets  and  ballad  singers.     They  were 

the  *'  newsmen ''  and  censors  of  their  time  —  a  larse  and 

various  class,  ranging  from  the  accomplished  gentleman^ 

who,  like  Fitzgerald,  paraphrased  Horace,  or  like  McDon« 

aid,   of  Claragh,  translated  Homer  into  Gktelic,  down 

to  the  poor  performer  and  worse  versifier  who  earned 

his  ''bit  and  sup"  by  nightly  concerts  in  the  village 

tavern. 

Chanting  a  tongue  strange  to  their  oppressors,  but  not 

|;)eyond  the  chance  of  detection,  they  threw  all  their 

political  poems  into  an  allecforical  form.     At  one  time 

"  the  pretender  "  was  "  a  blackbird,"  pininff  in  a  foreign 

cage,  and  sorely  troubled,  though  waited  on  by  lords 

onci  ladies ;  at  another,  <'  a  little  dark  man ; "  sometimes 

Ireland,  personified  as   a  fairy,  appeared  to  the  poet, 

wailing  and  refusing  to  be  comforted,  while  her  beloved 

was  far  away :  — 

*'  My  priests  are  banished,  my  -warriors  wear 
«  No  longer  victory's  garlwd ; 
And  my  child,  my  son,  my  beloyed  heir, 
Is  an  exile  in  a  Ieut  land.  * 

In  other  moods,  a  girl  sings  of  her  banished  lover,  and 
declares  her  belief  that  he  will  return  from  France  to 
vindicate  her  cause  against  cruel  and  oppressive  rela- 
tives ;  or  the  poet  addresses  his  country  in  the  guise  of 
a  dear  mistress,  assuring  her  of  his  constancy,  and  fore- 
telling happier  days  to  come  :  — 


•'  Rise  up,  my  boy !  make  ready 
My  horse,  for  I  forth  wolild 


ride 


To  follow  the  modest  damsel 

That  dwells  on  the  green  hill's  side ; 
For  e'er  since  our  youth  were  we  plighted 

In  faith,  troth,  and  wedlock  true. 
O,  she's  sweeter  to  me,  ten  times  ove:. 

Than  organ  or  cuckoo ! " 

Another  bard  declares  his  constancy  still  more  signif- 
icantly :  — 

"I'll  leave  my  people,  both  firiend  and  foe ; 
From  all  the  girls  in  the  world  I'll  go ; 
But  from  you,  sweetheart,  O,  never !  O,  no  I  . 
TiU  I  lie  in  the  coffin,  stretched  cold  and  low !  *" 


*  Mangan's  Trans,  in  Duffy's  Ballad  Poetry  of  Ireland.  Dublin, 

^       .   18* 


1846. 


I 


•  i 


910 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


More  homely,  but  not  less  popular,  was  he  who  typi- 
fied  pastoral  Ireland  in  a  dun  cow,  **  with  a  face  like  a 
rose,  and  a  dewlap  of  snow."  To  her  the  Irish  farmer 
tells  his  griefs  without  restraint  He  questions  her  as  to 
her  old  friends,  and  answers  in  the  same  stanza, — 

••  Ah,  Drimin  Dhu  deeliih,  a  pride  of  the  Ano ;  • 
Ah,  where  ere  tout  folki  —  are  they  U'nng,  or  no  ? 
They're  down  m  the  ground,  'neath  the  lod  Iving  low, 
Expecting  King  James  with  the  crown  on  his  mow." 

Leaving  them,  he  speaks  of  himself,  and  declares :  — 

**  But  if  I  coidd  get  -*'*ht  of  the  crown  on  his  brow, 
By  night  and  day  trarelling,  to  London  I'd  go; 
Over  mountains  of  mist,  and  soft  mosses  below, 
Till  I'd  beat  on  the  kettle  drums,  Drimin  Dhu,  0  !  " 

Not  content  with  lovinff  allegories,  the  house  of  Han- 
over  and  their  chief  partisans  were  satirized  under  va- 
rious  fanciful  symbols,  all  of  which,  of  course,  a  gesture 
or  a  sign  made  perfectly  intelligible  to  the  audience, 
who  had  the  pieces  hot  from  the  composer's  lips,  in  a 
speech  common  to  both. 

The  most  notable  of  the  Jacobite  bards  were  Carolan, 
(born  in  Meath  in  1670,  died  in  1731,)  McDonnell,  of 
Claragh,  in  Cork,  (bom  in  1691,  died  1754,)  O'SuUivan, 
of  Kerry,  (born  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, died  1784.)  Carolan  excelled  as  a  musician  more 
than  as  a  poet,  while  McDonnell  and  O' Sullivan  pos- 
sessed the  true  poetic  fire,  and  knew  how  to  cultivate  and 
subject  it  to  the  rules  of  art.  A  vast  procession,  bearine 
laurels,  of  something  very  like  laurel,  follows  behind 
these  masters  of  Irish  song.  The  number  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  count,  or  the  precise  merit  of  each  to  distinguish. 
We  can  only  estimate  their  merit  from  the  scanty  trans- 
lations that  have  been  made,  and  their  numbers  from 
the  accounts  of  the  two  great  "  bardic  sessions,"  period- 
ically held  at  Charleville,  iij  Cork,  and  Burrin,  in  Lim- 
erick. At  these  assemblies,  between  one  and  two  hun- 
dred composers  of  words,  or  airs,  attended  annually,  till 
within  ten  years  of  the  end  of  the  century.  The  Ulster 
session  held  at  Belfast,  in  1792,  numbered  threescore. 

•  Ferguson's  Trans.  McCarthy's  Book  of  Irish  Ballads. 


PIOTBHTANV   MPOBMATIOlf  III  IMILAlfD. 


ail 


This  species  of  Jacobite  organixation,  while  very  hard 
to  be  got  at  by  the  new  dynasty,  was  of  very  little  avail 
to  the  old.  It  served  rather  to  keep  alive  than  to  increase 
or  direct  the  expectation  of  change.  Though  irritating 
in  detail  to  **  the  Brunswiokers,"  it  was  powerless  in  the 
aggregate.  It  had  in  fact  no  aggregate.  Yet  its  history 
iUoitrates  a  truth  that  we  have  often  perceived  evidences 
of  elsewhere,  which  is,  that  those  who  administer  and 
those  who  oppose  a  government  are  equally  apt  to  over- 
rate each  other's  power.  The  governors,  being  within 
tlie  edifice,  see  where  it  is  vulnerable,  and  become  ner- 
vously anxious ;  the  assailants,  looking  at  that  imposing 
oatsiae,  are  often  overawed  by  an  appearance  of  strength, 
which  is  only  an  appearance. 

Thus,  in  1715,  when  the  partisans  of  James  *^the 
Third''  partially  rose  in  arms  at  Preston  and  in  Scotland, 
all  the  registered  priests  in  Ireland  were  ordered  to  be 
arrested  and  transported  beyond  seas ;  all  the  chapels,  or 
"  mass  houses,"  were  ordered  to  be  shut  up,  though  there 
was  not  the  least  symptom  of  insurrection  at  the  time. 

It  was  the  custom  once  to  urge,  as  very  creditable  to 
'  Irish  loyalty,"  that  our  Jacobites  did  not  rise  en  massCy 
or  at  least  attempt  a  diversion,  in  1715.  The  fact  seems 
to  be,  that  they  were  unable  to  rise.  Without  chiefs,  or 
organization,  or  arms,  what  could  they  do  but  wait  for 
events,  as  they  did  ?  The  Rapparees  were  dying  out, 
and  all  the  candidates  for  milita^  life  had  sailed  away 
as  wild  geese.  A  few  Irish  officers  did  join  in  the  Scot-^ 
tish  rising  of  1715,  but  they  were  chiefly  from  the  conti- 
nent Some  of  them,  like  Chevalier  Wogan,  suffered 
imprisonment,  were  liberated,  and  returned  to  foreign 
service. 

The  house  of  Brunswick  was  placed  on  the  throne,  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  regulating  "the  Protestant 
succession."  The  first  of  them  —  George  I.,  the  son  of 
the  electress  Sophia,  granddaughter  to  James  I.,  was 
bred  a  Catholic,  but  apostatized  in  view  of  the  English 
throne.  He  stood  fourth  in  descent  from  the  first  Stuart, 
who  ruled  over  the  three  kingdoms,  and  consequently 
combined  in  his  own  person  the  traditions  and  the  blood 


ill 


212 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


of  all  the  sovereigns  since  the  conquest  But  this  he  had 
only  maternally  and  with  much  mixture,  while  hard  by, 
ill  France,  lived  the  immediate  heir  of  the  line.  As 
between  titles,  the  Stuarts  had  the  best. of  it;  but  *he 
Guelphs,  becoming  Protestants,  could  command  all  the 
party  created  and  enriched  by  "  the  reformation,"  and 
disciplined  by  "  the  revolution : "  having  that  party,  suc- 
cess was  easy.  It  was,  at  Queen  Anne's  death,  a  very 
doubtful  matter,  for  a  month,  which  scale  would  sink  or 
rise.  Had  the  legitimists  acted  promptly,  the  day  was 
theirs.  Had  Ormond  taken  Arbuthnot's  counsel,  and 
proclaimed  King  James  in  London  streets,  the  Stuarts 
might  have  reigned  again.  But  Anne  die4  suddenly, 
and  without  a  will ;  the  noble  Jacobites  hesitated ;  the 
people  had  no  power ;  the  whigs  were  resolute,  and  the 
crown  of  England  passed  to  a  third-rate  German  family. 
James  "  the  Third "  was  not  a  person  to  supply  the 
want  of  nerve  in  his  adherents.  Something  of  a '  liber- 
tine, and  a  good  deal  of  a  glutton,  he  had  little  of  the 
heroic  in  him.  He  allowed  the  first  elector  to  take  his 
throne  without  any  great  resistance.  After  this  he  mar- 
ried the  granddaughter  of  Sobieski,,  the  famous  king  of 
Poland,  and  rejoiced  over  the  heirs  for  whom  he  had 
made  no  provision.  In  1720,  Charles  Edward  was  born, 
and  in  1725,  Henry  Benedict,  afterwards  "  Cardinal 
York."  The  former  dashed  the  Sobieski  with  the  Stuart 
blood,  and,  in  one  of  tha  most  romantic  expeditions  ever 
undertaken,  displayed  some  strokes'  of  courage  and  poli- 
cy worthy  of  the  best  of  his  ancestors. 


r ,  I 


i  I 


BOOK  III. 


A.   D.    1727    TO    1830. 


FBOM  THE 


ACCESSION   OF   GEORGE   II. 


UNTIL  THE 


DEATH  OF   GEORGE  IV. 


■\ 


^4 


CHAPTER  I. 


HUSH  PABTIES  m  THE  BEIGN  OF  GEORGE  H.— "THE  PATBIOTS."  — 
•'THE  CASTLE  PARTY."  —  INCREASE  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  —ESTAB- 
LISHMENT OF  CHARTER  SCHOOLS SWIFT'S  PORTRAITS  OF  THE 

PROTESTANT  PRELATES.  —  BATTLE  OF  CULLODEN.  -CHANGE  OF 
CATHOLIC  TACTICS. 

The  city  of  Dublin  became  the  actual  capital  of  Ire- 
land after  the  treaty  of  Limerick.  Gradually,  by  the 
strong  arm  of  military  power,  or  the  silken  cords  of  pat- 
ronage, the  country  was  drawn  to  it  as  to  a  centre.  Once 
the  fortress  of  invasion,  it  now  bourgeoned  into  the  cita- 
del of  a  kingdom.  Once  the  seat  of  a  partial  represen- 
tation, (more  a  parley  than  a  Parliament,)  it  now  began 
to  consider  itself  a  seat  of  laws  and  of  authority  for  the 
whole  island,  and  to  assume  the  tone  and  leading  be- 
coming its  position. 

Two  constitutional  parties  were  the  first  signs  that  real 
power  had  settled  there.  The  government  party  was 
composed  of  all  who  either  had  offices  or  expectations 
from  the  viceroy  or  from  Kngland,  and  of  that  numerous 
body  who  always  like  to  stand  well  with  a  government,. 
of  whatever  sort.  Dublin  Castle  was  their  club,  and 
from  the  reign  of  William  till  the  middle  of  the  century, 
the  successive  Protestant  primates  were  their  most  active 
chiefs.  The  Irish  House  of  Lords,  created  by  England, 
was  almost  entirely  made  up  of  their  partisans. 

The  opposition  party  took  the  name  of  "  the  patriots." 
Molyneux,  member  for  Trinity  College,  in  William's  first 
Irish  Parliament,  was  its  precursor,  and  after  his  early 
death,  Swift,  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  became  its  director 
and  champion  through  part  of  Anne's  and  the  entire  of 
George  I.'s  reign.  The  policy  of  this  party  was  to  main- 
tain the  local  independence  of  the  Parliament,  to  revive 
Irish  commerce  and  manufactures,  to  create  a  public 


\ 


216 


ATTEMPTS  To  ESTABLISH  THE 


spirit  in  the  boroughs  and  through  the  country  by  their 
writings,  to  prevent  arable  land  being  laid  down  in  pas- 
ture, and  the  depopulation  included  in  that  design.  The 
landlords,  who  had  their  titles  by  conquests  still  recent, 
felt  no  obligation  to  the  tenantry  —  quite  the  reverse :  as 
cattle  became  more  profitable  than  cultivators,  they 
adopted  a  system  of  extermination,  which  left  whole  es- 
tates without  other  occupants  than  herds  and  herdsmen. 
The  selfishness  of  the  class  was  equal  to  their  iilhumanity. 

The  "  tithe  of  agistment,"  (or  tithe  of  cattle,)  an  impor- 
tant source  of  revenue  to  the  establishment,  was  every 
where  resisted  by  them.  They  formed  an  association  for 
united  opposition,  and  in  1735,  they  succeeded  in  having 
it  abolished.  The  entire  tithe  charge  then  fell  upon  the 
leaseholders  or  tenants  at  will,  already  burdened  with 
rent,  and  haunted  by  the  fear  of  an  increased  rent,  or 
sudden  ejectment  to  make  way  for  cattle.  \ 

The  policy  advocated  by  the  "patriot  party''  was 
favorable  to  the  interests  of  Catholics.  If  manufactures 
increased,  wages  must  increase;  if  depopulation  was 
stayed,  the  tenants  would  have  leave  and  room  to  live. 
If  high  culture  succeeded  grazing,  some  better  tenure 
than  mere  occupancy  should  be  conceded  to  the  farmers. 
If  the  Parliament  became  independent,  there  was  reason 
to  expect  it  would  try  to  strengthen  itself  at  home  by 
extending  the  constituency.  No  wise  act  of  native  legis- 
lation, however  interpreted,  could  be  unfavorable  to  the 
body  of  the  native  population.  Indirectly  or  directly, 
mediately  or  immediately,  they  should  be  the  gainers. 
So  did  Providence  dispose  events,  that  the  intended  in- 
struments of  provincial  oppression  became  the  means  of 
gradual  amelioration. 

But  during  the  reigns  of  Anne  and  the  two  first 
Georges,  the  patriots,  as  a  minority,  could  do  but  little 
in  College  Green.  Until  3767,  Irish  Parliaments  sat 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  king,  unless  specially  dissolved. 
The  government  party  had  the  elections  of  1730  their 
own  way;  the  Parliament  then  elected  lasted  thirty 
years !  Upon  a  body  so  irresponsible  to  the  nation,  and 
so  likely  to  fall  into  the  harness  and  the  pension  list  of 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


217 


ras  reason 


the  castle,  the  ablest  reasoning  and  the  highest  eloquence 
might  be  spent  in  vain.  The  prose  and  verse  of  Swift, 
Sheridan,  (the  first,)  Dobbs,  Delaney,  Madden,  and  Ma- 
lone  were,  in  most  cases,  thrown  away.  In  1723,  on 
the  question  of  debasing  the  Irish  currency,  for  which 
William  Wood  had  a  patent  from  England,  there  were 
some  symptoms  of  public  spirit  shown  in  the  Commons. 
But  it  was  with  the  people  the  appeals  of  Swift  took  most 
"  I  find  "  (Primate  Boulter  writes  to  the  English  prime 
minister,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle)  "  the  people  of  every 
religion,  country,  and  party  here  are  alike  set  against 
Wood's  halfpence,  and  that  their  agreement  in  this  has 
bad  a  most  unhappy  influence  on  the  state  of  this  nation, 
by  bringing  on  intimacies  between  Papists  and  the  whigs, 
who  before  had  no  correspondence  with  them."  *  From 
this  dispute  about  the  currency  we  may  date  the  return 
of  public  spirit,  beaten  down  and  exiled  in  the  late  war. 
The  patriots,  henceforward,  entitled  themselves,  by  de- 
grees, to  be  called  the  national  party. 

The  series  of  steps  by  which  the  Dublin  Parliament 
advanced  towards  legislative  independence  were,  at  first, 
altogether  financial.  In  1723,  the  Commons  addressed 
the  king  to  consent  to  a  reduction  of  the  supplies,  but  no 
notice  was  taken  of  their  modest  request ;  by  1729,  Ire- 
land "owed  the  government"  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  thousand  pounds  —  a  vast  sum  for  that  period  :  in 
1731,  another  petition  for  reduction  went  out,  with  the 
like  result.  Every  session  in  future  was  occupied  with 
"  a  money  bill "  debate,  the  supplies  being  voted  annu- 
ally. Even  after  the  revenues  began  to  yield  a  surplus, 
the  discussion  was  kept  up,  for  the  principle  had  taken 
root.  In  1753,  a  severe  struggle  for  the  surplus  fund  took 
place,  and  the  polititjs  of  Swift  triumphed. 

Several  of  the  leaders  in  debates  at  this  time  were 
children  of  the  old  Catholics.  In  1753,  Anthony  Ma- 
lone,  son  of  Sir  Toby  Butler's  old  colleague,  a  native  of 
Westmeath,  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Irish  bar.  He 
was  "prime  sergeant,"  and  took  precedence  of  the  at- 


19 


*  Boulter's  Iietters. 


218 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


n   ! 


torney  general  among  the  crown  officers.  For  voting 
against  the  castle,  on  the  supplies  of  1753,  he  was  ousted, 
and  in  1768,  for  similar  independence,  he  was  removed 
from  his  office  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  He  was 
considered  by  such  judges  as  Grattan  the  equal  of 
Jjord  Chatham  in  parliamentary  eloquence.* 

On  the  castle  side  was  a  very  unscrupulous,  but  very 
able  man,  John  Healy,  who  at  bis  marriage  assumed  the 
name  of  Hutchinson.  The  son  of  humble  Catholic  par- 
ents in  the  south,  \ie  had  resolved  to  fight  his  way  to 
rank,  and  began  by  disencumbering  himself  of  his  pro- 
scribed religion.  He  rose  to  eminence  at  the  bar  and  in 
Parliament ;  became  provost  of  Trinity  College,  Earl  of 
Donoughmore,  a  privy  councillor,  and  one  of  the  richest 
of  the  Irish  peerage.  He  gained  the  whole  world  of  his 
ambition ;  but  what  did  it  profit  him  at  the  hour  of  death  ? 

Sir  Lucius  O'Brien,  and  Mr.,  afterwards  Lord  O'Neil, 
members  for  Antrim  and  Clare,  distinguished  themselves 
on  the  patriot  side.  The  Dalys,  Brownes,  Floods,  and 
Fitzgeralds,  also  of  Catholic  ancestors,  were  well-known 
members  of  Parliament,  The  castle  was  defeated  on 
the  money  bills,  and  the  surplus  revenue  was,  in  future, 
expended  in  paying  off  the  national  debt,  and  in  forward- 
ing internal  improvements. 

The  Viceroys  Wharton,  Carteret,  Grafton,  and  Ches- 
terfield had  seen  the  rise  of  the  patriot  party.  Boulter 
had  tried  in  vain  to  strangle  it.  His  successor  in  place 
and  politics,  Primate  Stone,  who  is  related  to  him  in  our 
history,  on  a  small  scale,  as  Mazarin  is  to  Richelieu  in 
that  of  France,  grappled  it  in  vain.  The  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, viceroy  from  1750  to  1760,  assisted  Stone  with  all 
the  appliances  of  patronage  and  power.  But  it  was 
labor  lost ;  a  great  party  had  been  created,  and  it  ad- 
vanced from  aggression  to  aggression.  • 

l^he  elder  Pitt,  who  then  ruled  England,  writes  to 
the  duke,  in  1757,  that  the  parties  being  "on  a  near 
equality  in  strength,"  "  all  softening  and  heali*?<?f  arts  of 


*  Mr.  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  Jr.,  a  son  of  Butler's  old^o^^^^,  was  also 
an  active  member  of  these  Parliaments. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


219 


I'oT  voting 

^as  ousted, 

s  removed 

He  was 

equal  of 

B»  but  very 
sumed  the 
tholic  par- 
lis  way  to 
>f  bis  pro- 
bar  and  in 
je,  Earl  of 
the  richest 
orld  of  his 
r  of  death? 
)rd  O'Neil, 
themselves 
loods,  and 
tf-ell-known 
efeated  on 
,  in  future, 
in  forward- 

and  Ches- 

'.  Boulter 
yr  in  place 
him  in  our 
icbelieu  in 
ke  of  Bed- 
ne  with  all 
^ut  it  was 
and  it  ad- 

,  writes  to 
on  a  near 
i*^'r  arts  of 

4igi,  was  also 


government" — in  plain  terms,  bribery  and  titles  —  are 
to  be  tried.  A  partial  success  attended  this  policy,  but 
only  partial,  and  for  a  short  time. 

In  1759,  a  report  prevailed  in  Dublin,  that  "  a  union  " 
was  contemplated.  On  the  3d  of  December,  the  citizens 
rose  en  mctsse,  and  surrounded  the  houses  of  Parliament. 
They  stopped  the  carriages  of  members,  and  obliged  them 
to  swear  opposition  to  such  a  measure.  Some  of  the 
Protestant  bishops,  the  chancellor,  and  the  attorney  gen- 
eral were  roughly  handled,  but  escaped ;  a  privy  coun- 
cillor was  thrown  into  the  river;  Lord  Inchiquin  was 
abused  till  he  said  his  name  was  O'Brien,  when  the 
rage  of  the  people  "was  turned  into  acclamations."* 
The  speaker  (Ponsonby)  and  the  secretary  for  Ire- 
land (Rigby)  had  to  appear  on  the  porch  steps, 'and 
solemnly  assure  the  citizens  that  no  union  was  dreamt 
of,  and  if  it  was  proposed,  that  they  would  be  the  first 
to  resist  it.  Public  spirit  had  evidenly  grown  bold  and 
confident,  and  we  can  well  believe  Secretary  Rigby  when 
he  writes  to  the  elder  Pitt,  that  "  the  mob "  declared, 
<'  since  they  have  no  chance  of  numbers  in  the  house, 
they  must  have  recourse  to  numbers  out  of  doors."  f 

In  these  agitations  the  Irish  Catholics  could  take  no 
very  active  part.  Though  gradually  increasing  in  num- 
bers, and  still  nominally  possessed  of  the  elective  fran- 
chise, they  were  even  yet  "  as  insignificant  as  women 
and  children."  Like  the  oppressed  Israelites,  their  sor- 
row and  theh"  hope  was  in  their  offspring ;  like  them, 
also,  though  "wisely  oppressed,"  they  continued  to  in- 
crease in  a  greater  proportion  tha  i  the  Protestant  popu- 
lation. In  the  conjectural  census  of  1747,  which  rated 
the  whole  population  at  four  millions  and  a  third,  the 
Catholics  \yere  admitted  to  be  three  millions  and  a  half. 
In  Ulster  they  had  clung  to  the  soil,  while  the  Presby- 
terian emigration  went  on.  In  Derry,  Armagh,  and  An- 
trim, they  were  now  equal  to  those  who  had  been  set 
over  them  in  the  preceding  century,  and  in  some  places 


If  ^  I 


*  Horace  Walpole's  Memoirs  of  George  II. 

t  Correspondence  in  Life  of  Graltan,  vol.  i.  p.  75. 


220 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


they  already  exceeded  them.  This  ratio  the  northern 
Catholics  have  ever  since  maintained. 

In  Mayo,  in  1731,  it  was  reported  to  Parliament  that 
the  Catholics  were  "  twelve  to  one ; "  in  Kerry,  in  1733, 
they  were  "  one  hundred  to  one ; "  in  Kilkenny  and 
Meath  the  disproportion  was  still  greater  in  favor  of  the 
Catholics  —  in  some  parishes  '<  one  thousand  to  one." 
Through  the  three  provinces  the  ratio  was  thought  to 
be  (including  towns  and  cities)  "seven  to  one."*  It 
shows  the  powerlessness  of  mere  undisciplined  numbers, 
when  the  one  seventh  part  of  a  people  could  so  long 
and  so  ostentatiously  oppress  the  vast  remainder.  The 
minority,  however,  had  a  powerful  ally  in  England. 

While  this  was  the  state  of  parties  and  politics,  Dr. 
Boulter  became  enamoured  of  the  double  glory  of  being 
the  legislator  and  apostle  of  his  generation.     Under  his 


*  The  tourists  to  Ireland,  in  this  and  the  succeeding  reign,  were, 
naturally  enough,  struck  with  this  disparity  of  numbers.  A  Qerman, 
(Prince  Puckler  Muskan,)  gives  the  following  statistics  of  the  county 
Tipperary,  early  in  the  next  reign.     He  writes, — 

"  I  found  all  I  had  heard  of  the  actual  proportion  between  Protestant 
and  Catholic  fully  confirmed.  Among  other  information,  I  obtained  an 
official  list  of  part  of  the  parishes  in  the  diocese  of  Cashel. 

Catholics.         Protestants. 


Thurles  has 

Cashel 

Clonoulty 

Cappawhite 

Killenaule 

Boherlaw 

Fethard 

KUcommon 

Moykarkey 

Golden 

Donaskeagh 

New  Inn 


78,182  2,870 

"  In  Kilcommon,  where  there  is  not  a  single  Protestant  parishioner, 
the  service,  which,  according  to  law,  must  be  performed  once  a  year,  is 
enacted  in  the  ruins  with  the  help  of  a  Catholic  clerk.  In  another, 
called  Tullemaine,  the  same  farce  took  place.  But  not  a  whit  the  less 
must  the  non-attending  parishioners  pay  the  utmost  farthipg  of  their  tithes 
and  other  dues ;  and  no  claims  are  so  bitterly  enforced  as  those  of  this 
Christian  church.    There  is  no  pity — at  least  none  for  the  Catholics." 


12,000  . 

280 

11,000 

700 

5,142  . 

82 

2,800 

76 

7,040  . 

514 

5,000 

25 

7,600  . 

400 

2,400 

— 

7,000  . 

80 

4,000 

120 

6,700  . 

90 

4,500    . 

30 

PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


931 


'rotestanU. 


auspices  schools  to-  proselytize  the  Catholic  youth  were 
regularly  established,  and  an  "  Incorporatea  Society " 
founded  by  law,  in  1733,  for  the  control  and  support  of 
the  schools. 

This  plan  of  making  Irish  Protestants  was  not  new. 
Both  Henry  and  Elizabeth  had  legislated  upon  it  —  had 
enacted  that  the  schools  should  be  placed  under  the  new 
clergy,  out  of  whose  income  the  expenses  were  to  be 
taken.  The  parsons  did  not  relish  this  method  of 
spreading  the  gospel,  and  paving  for  it  beside.  Similar 
acts  of  the  seventh  of  William  and  the  second  and 
third  of  George  I.  failed  to  arouse  them  to  their  duties 
as  teachers,  and  Dr.  Boulter,  in  despair,  turned  for  a 
remedy  to  Parliament.  This  was  thought  to  be  found 
in  "  the  Incorporated  Society,"  whose  expenses  were  to 
be  taken  from  the  treasury,  while  engaged  in  the  good 
work  of  "teaching  the  children  of  the  Popish  and  other 
natives."  The  motive  of  the  mover  is  well  put  by  him- 
self. "  One  of  the  most  likely  methods  we  can  think  of 
is,  if  possible,  instructing  and  converting  the  young 
generation  ;  for  instead  of  converting  those  that  are 
adult,  we  are  daily  losing  many  of  our  meaner  people, 
who  go  off  to  Popery."  * 

Unfortunately  for  the  new  scheme,  the  controversy  con- 
cerning the  tithe  of  agistment  raged  most  fiercely  at  this 
date.  The  landlords,  according  to  the  primate,  hated 
the  parsons  as  heartily  as  they  did  "  the  Popish  priests," 
whil.  the  former  "  accepted  whatever  they  could  get, 
and  very  few  of  them  ever  went  to  their  livings  to 
do  their  duty."  During  this  agitation  and  the  progress 
of  laying  down  land  in  pasturage,  according  to  the  same 
competent  witness,  "  a  great  part  of  the  churches  were 
neglected,  and  going  to  ruin,"  while  "  it  became  neces- 
sary to  give  as  many  as  six  or  seven  parishes  to  one 
incumbent,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  live."  After  de- 
voting a  dozen  years  to  the  advocacy  of  his  schools  and 
other  schemes,  the  energetic  Boulter  died,  at  London, 
in  1742.     He    had  tried  with   equal   ardor,   and   more 


*  Boulter's  Correspondence. 

19* 


Letters  from  1730  to  1737. 


f-  4 , 


fm 


ATTEMPTS   TO  ESTABLISH   THE 


authority,  the  plan  of  Usher,  Daniel,  and  Bedell,  but  with 
scanty  success,  ^houffh  he  did  not  succeed  in  reaping 
the  harvest  of  perversion,  he  has  made  that  mode  of 
cultivation  fashionable,  and  henceforth  we  find  *'  charter 
schools "  a  fundamental  part  of  En^and's  policy  in 
Ireland. 

The  new  system  could  not  complain  of  any  scarcity 
of  supplies.  Their  annual  grants  from  Parliament  were 
nearly  equal  to  eighty  thousand  pounds  per  year.*  In 
addition  to  this,  they  had  many  bequests.  A  Baron 
Yry haven  left  them  fifty-six  thousand  pounjds ;  the 
Earl  of  Banelagh  bequeathed  them  valuable  real  estate; 
an  anonymous  benefactor  left  them  forty  thousand 
pounds ;  and  many  other  well-disposed  people  smaller 
legacies.  The  "  Incorporated  Society  "  was  thus  enabled 
to  do  a  great  deal,  so  far  as  money  went.  SiiJl  their 
schools  progressed  but  slowly.  In  1771,  they  hud  but 
fifty-two  altogether,  educating  only  two  thousand  and 
thirty-five  children.  In  1775,  the  society  made  a  by-law 
that  "none  but  Popish  children"  should  be  admitted  to 
the  schools  — thus  avowing  and  insuring  their  prose- 
lytizing  purpose.  The  treatment  .of  the  poor  little  Cath- 
olics in  these  places  was  inhuman  to  the  last  degree. 
Here  surely  was  a  vantage  ground  and  crowning  mercy 
for  Protestantism.  There  were  no  other  schools  tol- 
erated but  their  own,  and  their  own  had  the  public 
treasury  fpr  a  revenue.  If  ever  the  Irish  were  to  be 
converted,  this  was  the  time,  and  these  were  the  means. 
But  what  was  the  result  ?  The  system  not  only  failed, 
but  in  its  failure  demonstrated  anew  the  utter  hoUow- 
ness  and  heartlessness  of  the  Anglican  schism.  It  es- 
caped for  a  time  tinexposed.  A  Protestant  Parliament 
voted  the  supplies,  ordered  the  reports  to  be  printed, 
and  took  no  further  interest  in  the  matter.  At  length,  a 
great  philanthropist,  the  humane  Howard,  visited  Ireland 
on  his  "  circumnavigation  of  charity.*'  Th^  committees 
of  Parliament  received   him  with  respect,   and  many 


•■  Parliamentary  Report,  1809,  states  that,  from  1730  to  1820,  they  had 
received  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  pounds. 


::'\ 


PROTB8TANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


2ll 


3  means. 


improvements  in  prisons  and  hospitals  were  made  «| 
his  suggestion.  He  brougtit  the  subject  of  the  charter 
schools  to  the  attention  of  Parliament.  In  1787,  they 
ordered  an  inquiry,  and  found  that,  of  twenty-one  hun- 
dred scholars  reported,  only  fourteen  hundred  could  be 
produced.  Howard  and  oir  Jeremiah  Fitzpatrick,  in- 
spector of  prisons,  served  on  the  commission,  and  were 
examined.  Both  stated  that  the  children  "  were  in  gen- 
eral filthy  and  ill  clothed;"  that  'Hhe  diet  was  insuffi- 
cient for  the  support  of  their  delicate  frames ; "  that 
many  of  the  schools  "  were  going  to  ruin  ; "  that  many 
of  the  scholars  "were  without  shifts  or  shirts,  and  in 
Such  a  condition  as  was  indecent  to  look  on."  Howard 
concluded  his  evidence  by  asserting  that  "  the  children 
in  general  were  sickly,  pale,  and  such  miserable  objects 
that  they  w^re  a  disgrace  to  all  society,  and  theit  reading 
had  been  neglected  for  the  purpose  of  making  them 
work  for  their  masters."  This  was  the  ripe  result  of  Dr. 
Boulter's  schools,  which,  however,  lived  on  in  their  rot- 
tenness and  pretences  for  half  a  century  longer.  The 
shameless  tenacity  with  which  they  were  defended  shows 
how  entirely  pride  and  prejudice  were  the  guides  and 
governors  of  the  Irish  establishment. 

Besides  the  charter  schools,  there  were  a  few  schools 
of  immediate  royal  origin.  Charles  I.  founded  seven 
of  these,  —  at  Armagh,  Dungannon,  Enniskillen,  Ra- 
phoe,  Cavan,  Banagher,  and  Carysford,  and  endowed 
them  with  thirteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  acres  of  land  in  Ulster  for  their  maintenance. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  grant  giving  these  schools  a 
sectarian  object,  or  excluding  Catholic  teachers.  The 
administration,  however,  was  vested  in  the  Protestant 
archbishops  and  bishops,  who  took  care  to  make  the 
royal  schools  rivals  of  the  chartered  in  bigotry  and  inhu- 
manity. The  British  commissioners  for  inquiring  into 
the  state  of  education  in  Ireland  (in  1821)  found  that, 
"  with  the  single  exception  of  Carysford,  all  the  masters, 
and  several  of  the  assistants,  are  clergymen  of  the  estab- 
lished church."      The  original  intention  of  the  founder 


^  \ 


224 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


evidently  was,  that  these  should  be  free  schools.  The 
masters,  on  the  'contrary,  received  their  stipends,  and 
charged  the  scholars  beside !  In  1788,  the  seven  royal 
schools  had  ninety-eight  boarders,  seventy-five  day  schol- 
ars, and  thirty-eight  free  scholars.  With  a  rental,  in 
that  year,  of  thirty-nine  hundred  and  eighteen  pounds, 
they  contrived  to  educate  some  two  hundred  scholars  at 
6l  charge  of  over  tweAty  pounds  sterling  to  the  state,  and 
half  as  much  more  to  scholars  who  could  pay. 

The  other,  proselytizing  schools  in  the  last^  century 
were  "the  Blue  Coat  School,"  founded  by  Charles  II., 
whose  rental,  in  1810,  amounted  to  about  four  thou- 
sand pounds ;  the  Hibernian  School,  by  George  III., 
in  17o9,  for  soldiers'  children,  which,  up  to  1^6,  re- 
ceived, besides  .its  rental,  (to  us  unknown,)  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-six 
pounds  of  parliamentary  money ;  the  Hibernian  Marine 
School,  its  pendant,  founded  in  1771,  for  the  education 
of  the  children  of  decayed  sailors,  and  endowed  with 
lands  and  an  annual  grant  of  four  hundred  pounds  per 
annum. 

Here,  then,  were  surely  appliances  enough  for  ''in- 
structing and  converting  the  young  generation."  Could 
Boulter  himself  desire  more  than  the  pious  house  of 
.Brunswick  gave?  Yet,  after  a  generation  so  tempted 
has  passed,  the  Catholics  are  still  "seven  to  one"  in 
the  island.  Another  generation  passes,  and  the  ratio 
increases ;  another,  and  the  Catholics  are  fifty  to  one  in 
the  country,  and  three  to  one  in  the  cities ! 

All  this  time,  these  were  the  cnly  schools  tolerated  in 
the  land,  all  others  being  felonious.  Seditious  school- 
masters did,  indeed,  contrive  to  defy  the  law  in  holes 
and  corners,  especially  in  Munster.  Cork,  Limerick, 
and  Kerry  were  the  chief  seats  of  those  vagrant  acade- 
mies called  "  hedge  schools."  They  had  neither  law  nor 
revenues  to  sustain  them,  but  stiU  they  had  what  the 
charter  schools  wanted  —  plenty  of  pupils.  Some  snug 
farmer  who  had  outlived  the  pen;!  storm  of  Anne's  reign 
would   give  his  bam  for  an  acade  ay;   and  there  the 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


335 


learned  philomath  would  preside  over  hi«  motley  and 
eager  subjects.  Strsmge  rontrasts  would  be  forever  pres- 
ent, but  their  commonness  caused  them  to  be  forgotten. 
Barefoot  boys,  stretched  on  the  gmss  in  summer,  would 
wrestle  in  spirit  with  Aristotle,  v>  ehant  aloud  the  battle 
pieces  of  HomtT ;  by  the  winter's  sun,  or  the  firelight 
of  the  long,  dark  evenings,  they  would  rwnte  Cicero's 
sonorous  periods,  construct  diagrams,  or  give  out  gram- 
matical "  crans,"  some  of  which  even  the  awful  master 
could  not  solve.  Between  the  hedge  schoolmaster  and 
the  Jacobite  bard,  Latin  and  Irish  had,  for  that  century, 
much  more  currency  in  three  fourths  of  the  counties  than 
the  language  of  Swift  and  the  great  orators  of  the  Par- 
liament. The  peasantry,  traditional  devotees  of  faith 
and  learning,  hailed  the  vagrant  scholar  on  his  way,  and 
felt  rejoiced  to  lodge  and  refresh  him.  Where  a  famous 
"master"  resided,  every  house  had  its  honored  "gos- 
soon," whose  free  quarters  inadequately  expressed  the 
tenderness  of  the  people  for  "  the  poor  boys  who  came 
80  far  to  get  their  classics."  Munster  contended  with  the 
reformation  for  **  the  instruction  .of  the  young  genera- 
tiftn,"  and  the  victory  was  clearly  with  Munster. 

With  the  consciousness  >f  returning  power,  derived 
from  mere  increase  of  numbers,  the  policy  of  the  Cath- 
olics took  a  new  direction.  Men  began  to  speak  slight- 
ingly of  their  ancestors'  foolish  devotion  to  the  Stuarts. 
Those  who  had  stood  by  the  people  through  every  peril 
began  to  express  hope  in  the  future,  under  the  house  of 
Brunswick.  Catholics  like  Viscount  Taafe  and  Charles 
O'Conor,  towards  the  end  of  George  II.'s  reign,  struck 
the  new  chord  of  popular  conviction.*  They  speak  in 
their  pamphlets  regretfully  and  respectfully  of  the  Stuarts, 
but  speak  of  them  as  gone,  as  forever  passed  away.  The 
polite  Lord  Chesterfield,  when  viceroy,  perceived  and 
took  advantage  of  this  turning  of  the  tide.  He  connived 
at  Catholic  worship  in  Dublin,  and  after  a  melancholy 
loss  of  life  by  the  falling  in  of  a  garret  in  Cooke  Street, 
where  mass  was  said,  he  permitted  the  erection  of  a 

*  Hibernia  CoUectanca.    Dublin,  1789. 


226 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


\   Y 


3^  '^     ^>  IK    \ti 


chapel  or  two  in  that  city.*  Acting  on  hi^own  morality 
of  dissimulation,  he  even  held  out  a  vague  prospect 
of  the  abolition  of  part  of  the  penal  code,  and  of  the 
tithe  impost,  and  by  "  closeting  and  claret,"  succeeded 
in  conciliating  some  leading  Catholics;  for  once  more 
there  are  such  persons  as  leading  Catholics. 

Except  Dr.  Stone,  there  was  no  very  zealous  or  formi- 
dable man  among  the  Protestant  hierarchy  after  Boulter's 
death.  If  we  may  judge  of  them  by  the  report  of 
Swift,  the  bishops  of  the  establishment  were  among  the 
most  servile  and  worthless  of  mankind. 

"Of  whom  there  are  not  four  at  most 
Who  kliow  there  is  a  Holy  Ghost ; 
And  when  they  boast  they  have  conferred  it 
Like  Paul's  Ephesians,  never  heard  it ; 
And  when  they  gave  it,  'tis  well  known, 
They  gave  what  never  was  their  own." 


In  another  piece,  he  gives  them  a  gratuitous  advice. 

"  Let  prelates  by  their  good  behavior 
Convince  us  they  believe  a  Savior ; 
Nor  sell,  what  they  so  dearly  bought, 
This  coTmtry,  not  their  own,  for  nought." 

While  they  were  intriguing  for  power  and  patronage, 
the  true  bishops  were  gradually  repairing  the  fences  of 
the  fold,  and,  with  the  chief  laymen  of  their  community, 
were  weaning  the  fond  hearts  of  the  poor  people  from 
the  Stuarts,  preparatory  to  a  more  political  loyalty.  In 
this  design,  events  abroad  admonished  and  directed  them. 
One  of  these  events  —  the  Scotch  expedition  of  Charles 
Edward  —  makes  an  era  in  this  history,  and  from  its  in- 
fluence, as  a  demonstration,  on  their  after  course,  needs 
to  be  well  considered  in  connection  with  the  reign  of 
George  II. 

The  rupture  between  England  and  Spain,  in  1739,  ex- 
cited the  sanguine  partisans  of  the  Stuarts,  and,  when 
Austria  and  France  joined  in  the  contest,  their  hopes  of 
another  restoration  rose  still  higher.     In  1744,  the  young 

•  Life  of  Lord  Chesterfield. 


?■■- 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


227 


nice  more 


chevalier,  Charles -Edward,  then  in  his  24th  year,  was 
actually  on  board  a  French  fleet  with  fifteen  thousand 
men,  and  Saxe  for  general,  when  a  storm  drove  the  ships 
ashore,  and  gave  the  ministers  at  Paris  an  interval,  in 
which  they  decided  to  abandon  the  expedition.  The 
battle  of  Fontenoy,  by  opening  the  prospect  of  another 
treaty  as  advantageous  as  that  of  Utrecht,  still  further 
disinclined  them  towards  their  first  project,  and  left  the 
brave  young  prince  with  private  means  and  little  prepa- 
ration to  attempt  the  invasion  or  abandon  it. 

The  expedition  of  1745,  such  as  it  was,  was  under- 
taken and  conducted  by  Irish  aid,  quite  as  much  as 
French  or  Scottish.  The  chief  parties  to  it  were,  besides 
the  old  Marquis  of  Tullibardine  and  the  young  Duke  of 
Perth,  the  Waterses,  father  and  son,  Irish  bankers  at 
Paris,  who  advanced  a  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
livres  between  them ;  Walsh,  an  Irish  merchant  at  Nantz, 
who  put  a  privateer  of  eighteen  guns  into  the  venture ; 
Sir  Thomas  Geraldine,  the  agent  at  Paris ;  Sir  Thomas 
Sheridan,  the  prince's  preceptor,  who,  with  Colonels 
0' Sullivan  and  Lynch,  Captain  O'Neil,  and  other  officers 
of  the  brigade,  formed  the  staff,  on  which  Sir  John  Mc- 
Donald, a  Scottish  officer  in  the  Spanish  service,  was  also 
placed.  Fathers  Kelly  and  O'Brien  also  volunteered  in 
the  expedition.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1745,  with  seven 
friends,  the  prince  embarked  in  Walsh's  vessel,  called  the 
Doutelle,  at  St.  Nazaire,  in  the  Loire,  and  on  the  19th 
of  July,  landed  on  the  northern  coast  of  Scotland,  near 
Moidart.  The  Scottish  chiefs,  little  consulted  or  consid- 
ered beforehand,  came  slowly  and  dubiously  to  the  land- 
ing-place. Under  their  patriarchal  control  there  were 
about  a  hundred  thousand  Highlanders,  or  one  twelfth  of 
the  Scottish  population.  Clanranald,  Cameron  of  Lo- 
chiel,  the  Laird  of  McLeod,  and  a  few  others  having 
joined  him,  the  standard  was  unfurled  on  the  19th  of 
August,  at  Glenfinin,  where  that  evening  twelve  hundred 
men  —  the  entire  army  so  far  —  were  formed  into  camp,, 
under  the  orders  of  O' Sullivan.  From  that  day  until 
the  day  of  Culloden,  O' Sullivan  seems  to  have  manceu- 
vred  the  prince's  forces.     At  Perth,  at  Edinburgh,  at 


228 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


i     1 


5 ;  I  ";i 


Preston,  at  Manchester,  at  Culloden,  he  takes  command 
in  the  field,  or  in  garrison ;  and  even  after  the  sad  re- 
sult, he  adheres  to  his  sovereign's  son  with  proverbial 
fidelity. 

Charles,  on  his  part,  put  full  confidence  in  his  Irish 
officers,  and  adopted  such  a  programme  as  they  could 
respect.  In  his  proclamation  after  the  battle  of  Preston, 
he  declared  it  was  not  his  intention  to  enforce  on  the 
people  of  England,  Scotland,  or  Ireland,  "  a  religion 
they  disliked."  In  a  subsequent  paper,  he  asks,  "  Have 
you  found  reason  to  love  and  cherish  your  governors  as 
the  fathers  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ? 
Has  a  family  upon  whom  a  faction  unlawfully  bestowed 
the  diadem  of  a  rightful  prince,  retained  a  due  sense  of 
so  great  a  trust  and  favor  ?  "  These  and  his  other  proc- 
lamations betray  an  Irish  pen;  probably  Sir  Thomas 
Sheridan's.  One  of  Charles's  English  adherents,'  Lord 
Elcho,  who  kept  a  journal,  notes  down,  complainingly, 
the  Irish  influence  under  which  he  acted.  "  The  prince 
and  his  old  governor.  Sir  Thomas  Sheridan,"  are  specially 
objected  to,  and  other  "  Irish  favorites,"  his  officers,  are 
censured  in  a  body.*  While  at  Edinburgh,  a  French 
ship,  containing  some  arms,  supplies,  and  "  Irish  officers," 
arrived,  and  with  the  five  thousand  men  gathered  by  the 
end  of  October,  they  proceeded  to  invade  England. 

Simultaneously,  efforts  were  made  to  recruit  for  the 
prince  in  Ireland ;  but  the  agents  being  taken  in  some 
cases,  and  the  people  not  very  eager  to  join  the  service, 
that  resource  was  closed. 

The  Irish  in  France,  as  if  to  cover  the  inaction  of 
their  countrymen  at  home,  strained  every  nerve.  The 
Waterses  and  O'Brien  of  Paris  were  the  bankers  of  the 
expedition.  Into  their  hands  James  "exhausted  his 
treasury  "  to  support  his  gallant  son.  At  Fontainebleau, 
on  the  23d  of  October,  Colonel  O'Brien,  on  the  part  of 
the  prince,  and  the  Marquis  D' Argeusson  for  Louis  XV., 
formed  a  treaty  of  "  friendship  and  alliance."  One  of 
the  clauses  of  this  compact  was,  that  some  of  the  Irish 

Chambers's  Scottish  Insurrection  of  1746. 


PROTfiSTANT  REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


S29 


regiments  in  France,  and  other  troops,  should  be  sent  to 
sustain  the  expedition.  Under  Lord  John  Drummond 
a  thousand  men  were  shipped  from  Dunkirk,  and  arrived 
at  Montrose  in  the  Highlands  about  the  time  Charlea 
was  at  Manchester.  The  officers,  with  the  prince,  in 
council,  refused  to  advance  on  London  with  so  small  a 
force ;  a  retreat  was  decided  on ;  the  sturdy  defence  of 
Carlisle  and  victory  of  Falkirk  checked  the  pursuit ;  but 
the  overwhelming  force  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
compelled  them  to  evacuate  Edinburgh,  Perth,  and  Glas- 
gow—operations which  consumed  February,  March, 
and  the  first  half  of  April,  1746. 

The  next  plan  of  operati(^ns  .^cems  to  have  been  to 
occupy  and  concentrate  in  the  Highlands,  with  Inverness 
for  head-quarters.  The  town  Charles  easily  got,  but 
Fort  George,  a  powerful  fortress,  (built  upon  the  site  of 
the  castle  where  Macbeth  is  said  to  have  murdered  Dun- 
can,) commanded  the  Lough.  Stapleton  and  the  Irish 
pickets,  however,  captured  it,  and  also  the  neighboring 
Fort  Augustus.  Joined  by  some  Highlanders,  they  next 
attempted  Fort  William,  the  last  fortress  of  King  George 
in  the  north,  but  on  the  3d  of  April  were  recalled  to  the 
main  body. 

To  cover  Inverness,  his  principal  dependence,  Charles 
resolved  to  give  battle.*  The  ground,  flanked  by  the  River 
Nairn,  was  spotted  with  marsh  and  very  irregular.  It 
was  called  CuUoden,  and  was  chosen  by  O' Sullivan. 
Brigadier  Stapleton,  another  Irish  officer,  and  Colonel 
Ker  reported  against  it,  as  a  field ;  but  Charles  adopted 
0' Sullivan's  opinion  of  its  fitness  for  Highland  warfare. 
When  the  preparations  for  battle  began,  "  many  voices 
exclaimed, '  We'll  give  Cumberland  another  Fontenoy ! '" 
The  Jacobites  were  placed  in  position  by  O'SuUivan,  "  at 
once  their  adjutant  and  quartermaster  general,"  and,  as 
the  burghers  of  Preston  thought,  "  a  very  likely  fellow." 
He  formed  two  lines,  the  great  clans  being  in  the  first,  the 


*  « It  has  been  insinuated  that  Charles  was  here  guided  by  his  tutor, 
Sheridan,  and  the  French  officers,"  says  Chambers,  who  adds  that 
«•  the  chief  reason  "  was  his  "  general  anxiety  for  fighting." 

20 


230 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


Ogilvies,  Gordons,  and  Murrays ;  the  French  and  Irish 
in  the  second.  Four  pieces  of  cannon  flanked  each  wing, 
and  four  occupied  the  centre.  Lord  George  Murray  com- 
manded the  right  wing,  Lord  John  Drummond  the  left, 
and  Brigadier  Stapleton  the  reserve.  They  were  in  all 
under  five  thousa;id.  The  British  formed  in  three  lines, 
ten  thousand  strong,  with  two  guns  between  every  sec- 
ond regiment  of  the  first  and  second  line.  The  action 
commenced  about  noon  of  April  16th,  and  before  even- 
ing half  the  troops  of  Prince  Charles  lay  dead  on  the 
field,  and  the  rest  were  hopelessly  broken.  The  retreat 
was  pellmell,  except  where  "  a  troop  of  the  Irish  pickets, 
by  a  spirited  fire,  checked  the  pursuit,  which  a  body  of 
dragoons  commenced  after  the  Macdonalds,  and  Lord 
Lewis  Gordon's  regiments  did  similar  service."  Staple- 
ton  conducted  the  French  and  Irish  remnant  to  Inver-* 
ness,  and  obtained  for  them  by  capitulation  ^<  fair  quarter 
and  honorable  treatment."  • 

The  unhappy  prince  remained  on  the  field  almost  to 
the  last.  "  It  required,"  says  a  writer,  "  all  the  eloquence, 
and  indeed  all  the  active  exertions,  of  O' Sullivan  to  make 
Charles  quit  the  field.  A  cornet  in  the  service,  when 
questioned  upon  this  subject  at  the  point  of  death,  de- 
clared he  saw  O' Sullivan,  after  using  entreaties  in  vain, 
turn  the  head  of  the  prince's  horse  and  drag  him  ajvay.* 

From  that  night  forth,  O' Sullivan,  O'Neil,  and  a  poor 
sedan  carrier  of  Edinburgh,  called  Burke,  accompanied 
him  in  all  his  wanderings  and  adventures  among  the 
Scottish  islands.  At  the  Long  Island  they  were  obliged 
to  part,  the  prince  proceeding  alone  with  Miss  Flora 
McDonald.  He  had  not  long  left,  when  a  French  cut- 
ter hove  in  sight  and  took  off  O' Sullivan,  intending  to 
touch  at  another  point,  and  take  in  the  prince  and 
O'Neil.  The  same  night  she  was  blown  off  the  coast, 
and  the  prince,  after  many  other  adventures,  was  finally 
taken  off  at  Badenoch,  on  the  15th  of  September,  by  the 
L'Hereux,  a  French  armed  vessel,  in  which  Captain 
Sheridan,  (son  of  Sir  Thomas,)  Mr.  O'Beirne,  a  lieuten- 

*  Quartetly  Review,  No.  71. 


it' I 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


231 


les  in  vain, 


ant  in  the  French  army, "  and  two  other  gentlemen  "  had 
adventured,  in  search  of  him. 

Poor  O'Neil,  in  seeking  to  rejoin  his  master,  was 
taken  prisoner,  carried  to  London,  and  is  lost  from  the 
record.  O' Sullivan  reached  France  safely,  where,  with 
Stapleton,  Lynch,  and  the  other  Irish  and  Scotch  officers, 
he  was  cordially  welcomed. 

Such  was  the  last  struggle  of  the  Stuarts.  For  years 
after,  the  popular  imagination  in  both  countries  clung 
fondly  to  Prince  Charles.  But  the  cause  was  dead.  To 
bury  it  forever,  Charles,  in  despair,  grew  dissipated 
and  desponding.  In  1755,  "the  British  Jacobites"  sent 
Colonel  McNamara,  as  their  agent,  to  induce  him  to 
put  away  his  mistress.  Miss  Walsingham ;  but  he  refused. 
In  1766,  when  James  III.  died  at  Avignon,  the  French 
and  the  pope  refused  to  acknowledge  the  prince  by  the 
title  of  Charles  III.  When  the  latter  died,  in  1788,  at 
Rome,  Cardinal  York  contented  himself  with  having  a 
medal  struck,  with  the  inscription  "  Henricus  IX.,  Angliae 
Rex."  In  1800,  when  driven  from  Rome  by  the  French 
arms,  he  accepted  a  stipend  of  four  thousand  pounds 
from  George  III.,  which  he  continued  to  receive  till  his 
death,  in  1808.     He  was  the  last  of  the  Stuarts. 

During  1745  and  1746,  Chesterfield,  the  Irish  viceroy, 
contented  himself  with  some  precautionary  proclama- 
tions against  recruiting  without  license,  rewards  for  the 
apprehension  of  rebel  chiefs,  and  such  paper  defences. 
There  was  no  need  for  more.  The  Catholic  people  were 
in  little  better  condition  than  they  had  been  in  1715. 
Without  officers  or  arms,  what  could  they  do  but  wait 
and  watch  ?  To  say  that  any  sense  of  new-born  loyalty 
kept  them  peaceable,  is  to  assert  vvhat  was  not  the  fact. 
If  there  had  been  ten  or  twenty  thousand  Jacobites  in  any 
part,  or  all  Ireland,  comparatively  as  well  armed  as  the 
Highlanders,  there  would  have  been  battles  for  Prince 
Charles  as  well  on  Irish  as  on  Scottish  soil.  The  double 
failure  of  father  and  son,  in  neither  of  which  the  Irish  at 
home  were  concerned,  the  self-abandonment  of  the  brave 
prince,  and  the  growth  of  native  parties  and  politics, 
weaned  Ireland  away  from  her  ancient  loyalty.    Hence, 


I 


.ri 


V 


232 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


at  the  accession  of  George  III.,  we  are  presented  with 
an  entirely  new  state  of  facts,  in  the  relations  of  the 
Catholic  population  and  the  house  of  Brunswick. 


CHAPTER   n. 


"  I' 


STATE  OF  IRELAND  AT  THE  ACCESSION  OP  6E0BGE  III PUBLICA- 
TIONS ON  THE  CATHOLIC  QUESTION.  —  THE  GREAT  FAMINE. - 
CATHOLIC  COMMITTEES  FOR  PETITIONING  PARLIAMENT.  —  PRO- 
POSED  RELIEF  BILL  ^F  1762.— RUMORED  FRF^CH  INVASION— 
AGRARIANISM.  — MART Yl.  DOM  OF  FATHER  NICHOLAS  SHEEHY 
AND  HIS  FRIENDS.  -  SP>HEAD  OF  SECREI'  SOCIETIES — THE 
METHODISTS   IN  IRELAND. 

From  the  year  1745,  memorable  for  the  battles  of 
Fontenoy  and  CuUoden,  we  begin  to  trace  the  symptoms 
of  returning  life  among  the  Irish  Catholics.  In  that 
year  mass  was  tolerated,  and  the  premiums  on  priest- 
catching  abolished.  Chesterfield,  who  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1747,  was  not  able  to  prevent,  although  he  tried 
hard  to  extinguish,  the  light  which  slowly  spread  over 
the  island.  Dr.  Lucas,  the  penman  of  the  patriot  party 
at  this  period,  in  his  addresses  to  the  citizens  of  Dublin, 
compares  the  sufferings  of  the  Catholics  to  those  endured 
by  the  South  Americans  from  their  Spanish  conquerors. 
Chief  Justice  Marlay,  who  represented  the  castle  party, 
(as  Irish  judges  usually  do,)  condescended,  in  his  charge 
to  the  Dublin  grand  juries,  in  1749,  to  say,  that  during 
the  late  rebellion,  the  Catholics  "not  only  preserved 
peace  at  home,  but  contributed  to  restore  it  in  Great 
Britain."  It  was  clear  that,  at  last,  a  prospect  for  dis- 
cussion was  opened.  Of  this  the  Dublin  patriots  and 
some  of  the  educated  Catholics  at  once  availed  them- 
selves. The  Dublin  press  was  exceedingly  active  in 
producing  new  pamphlets  and  reprints  bearing  on  the 
Catholic  question.  Eminent  among  the  writers  was 
Henry  Brooke,  a  native  of  MuUingar,  and  a  disciple  of 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


233 


Wesley  or  Whitefield.  His  Farmer's  Letters  on  the 
case  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  which  appeared  at  in- 
tervals from  1750  to  1760,  are  among  the  best  things 
ever  written  on  the  subject.  While  they  have  not  the 
brevity  or  sarcastic  power  of  Swift,  they  rival  the  Dra- 
pier's  essays  in  ease,  directness,  and  clearness  of  state- 
ment. Next  to  Brooke  in  effectiveness  was  Charles 
O'Connor  of  Belanagar,  the  son  of  that  frugal  recusant 
who  ploughed  his  fields  with  his  own  hands,  to  set  his 
boys  an  example  of  industry.  Many  of  the  anonymous 
pamphlets  of  that  time  bear  the  impress  of  his  anti- 
quarian studies  and  his  masculine  English.  In  Dr. 
Curry,  of  Dublin,  the  Catholic  writers  found  a  vigorous 
ally.  Passing  a  Protestant  church,  while  the  congrega- 
tion were  coming  out,  after  a  furious  No  Popery  sermon, 
he  heard  "  a  young  lady  "  inquire  "  if  there  were  any  of 
those  horrid  Papists  left  in  Ireland."  This  turned  hia 
attention  to  historical  studies,  the  chief  result  of  which 
was  his  Review  of  the  Civil  Wars  of  Ireland,  published 
at  Dublin,  in  1757.  On  the  same  side.  Viscount  Taafe, 
long  distinguished  in  the  Austrian  service,  in  his  old  age 
permitted  to  return  to  Ireland,  published  his  "  Observa- 
tions on  the  Affairs  in  Ireland  from  1691  to  the  Present 
Time."  In  his  introductory  remarks,  he  writes,  "  Se» 
questered  by  my  religion  from  my  seat  in  Parliament, 
and  stripped  of  most  of  the  privileges  of  an  Irish  peer, 
I  leave  this  pledge  of  affection  to  my  king,  to  my  coun- 
try, and  our  present  free  constitution ;  a.ad  I  may  still  be 
useful,  if  the  time  is  come,  as  I  trust  it  is,  when  true  in- 
formation can  dare  encounter  every  favorite  error,  and 
when  prejudices  equally  worthless  and  unsociable  are 
renounced  in  favor  of,  maxims  which  experience  has 
shown  to  be  the  lessons  of  nature,  and  which  alone  can 
render  nations  happy."  The  whole  of  this  pamphlet  is 
in  the  same  subdued  but  manly  style.  The  concluding 
reflections  are  worthy  of  remembrance  under *all  circum- 
stances. "  In  a  state  of  suffering,"  he  says,  "  Christians 
often  fill  their  proper  post ;  and  of  that  post  self-denial 
is  the  outguard.  A  state  of  prosperity  is  the  state  of 
danger,  often  as  fatal  as  it  is  flattering.  Let  us  not, 
20* 


jj-ii' 


834 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


therefore,  lose  the  merit  of  the  sacrifice  we  make  —  that 
of  worldly  advantages;  —  the  bitterest  acquisitions  on 
earthi  should  we  acquire  them  by  dissimulation,  or,  in 
other  v7ords,  by  the  renunciation  of  principles,  which  are 
the  best  tests  of  human  probity.  Sincerity,  insulted  and 
punished  sincerity,  is  a  source  of  comfort  in  the  world  we 
inhabit  If  we  act  in  a  manner  unworthy  of  this  virtue, 
we  are  undone  ;  we  lose  the  merit  of  our  sufferings ;  and 
thus,  criminal  towards  God,  how  can  y^e  presume  on 
favors  from  the  governors  he  hath  set  over  us?"* 

The  proscription  of  the  manufactures  of  Ireland  by 
William,  and  the  proscription  of  Irish  tillage  in  Anne's 
time,  had  produced  their  natural  consequences.  In  1727, 
1728,  and  1729,  famine  raged  among  the  peasantry,  con- 
demned to  a  pastoral  state,  in  an  artificial  age ;  in  1740 
and  1741,  and  in  1745,  it  returned,  and  in  the  winter  of 
1756,  and  the  spring  of  1757,  hundreds,  perhapj^  thou- 
sands, perished  for  want  of  food.  Yet,  after  all,  says  a 
well-informed  writer,  '<  the  Roman  Catholics  are  at  least 
as  numerous  as  they  were  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne."  f 
During  this  famine,  the  new  viceroy,  John,  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, arrived  in  Ireland,  having  with  him  a  "  king's  let- 
ter," empowering  him  to  expend  £20,000  in  relief  of  the 
su^erers.  "  After  the  reduction  of  one  fifth  of  the  popu- 
lation," says  Charles  O'Connor,  "  a  productive  harvest 
put  an  end  to  these  distresses.  The  system  of  persecu- 
tion revived  with  the  reviving  strength  and  growing 
property  of  the  country.  The  Catholics  were  every 
where  disarmed,  domiciliary  visits  were  made  in  quest 
of  priests  and  friars,  and  a  cruel  persecution  commenced 
in  every  quarter  of  the  kingdom."    These  measures  were 


*  We  have  seen  a  collection  of  the  pamphlets  puhlished  at  Dublin 
chiefly  on  the  Catholic  question,  between  the  years  1750  and  1760, 
amounting  to  ten  or  a  dozen  volumes. 

t  This  writer,  in  his  work,  the  Protestant  Interesft  considered  rel- 
atively to  the  Popery  Laws,  (Dublin,  1757,)  vividly  describes  the  famine 
he  had  seen.  "  A  dreadful  spectacle  this !  wherein  the  living,  unfit  for 
any  other  labor,  wer^  employed  in  burying  the  dead ;  the  last  and 
mournful  office  of  fainting  numbers,  who  expected,  and  wanted,  the  like 
tender  care  in  a  few  days."  —  Protestant  Interest,  p.  30. 


PROTESTANT   BBVOBMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


335 


isures  were 


taken  upon  rumors  of  a  French  invasion,  which,  in 
1758,  circulated  generally  through  England  and  Ireland. 
In  1757,  the  first  "  Catholic  Association,"  or  "  Com- 
mittee," was  privately  formed,  for  the  purpose  of  peti- 
tioning Parliament  At  the  hp'*''  of  this  movement 
was  Charles  O'Connor.  This  uistinguished  man  was 
bom  and  bred  up  among  the  frightful  evidences  of  the 
penal  code.  <<  In  1732,"  says  his  biographer,  '*  a  proc- 
lamation was.  issued  against  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy,  and  the  degree  of  violence  with  which  it  was 
enforced  made  many  of  the  old  natives  look  seriously, 
as  a  last  resource,  to  emigration.  Bishop  O'Rorke  re- 
tired from  Belanagar,  and  the  gentlemen  of  that  neigh- 
borhood had  no  clergyman  for  a  considerable  time  to 
give  them  mass,  but  a  poor  old  man  named  Pendergast, 
who,  before  daydawn,  on  Sunday,  crept  into  a  cave  in 
the  parish  of  Baslick,  and  waited  there  for  his  congrega'^ 
tion,  in  cold  and  wet  weather,  hunger  and  thirst,  to 
preach  to  them  patience  under  their  afflictions,  and  per- 
severance in  their  principles ;  to  offer  up  prayers  for  their 
persecutors,  and  to  arm  them  with  resignation  to  the 
will  of  Heaven.  The  cave  is  called  Pool-an-Aiffiin,  or 
Mass  Cave,  till  this  day."  *  Under  auspices  such  as 
these  Charles  O'Connor  came  of  age  — a  studious,  re- 
flective, and  deliberating  man.  Some  of  his  early  pub- 
lications on  Irish  history  obtained  him  general  reputa- 
tion —  the  thanks  and  correspondence,  among  others,  of 
Samuel  Johnson.  In  1770,  he  published  the  map  of 
Ireland,  showing  the  territories  of  the  several  clans,  first 
issued  by  Ortellius  of  Antwerp,  in  the  16th  century. 
This  publication  caused  an  outcry  for  the  time,  that  the 
Catholics  were  preparing  for  the  restoration  of  the  old 
estates.  But  this  storm  blew  over,  and  the  venerable 
antiquary  of  Belanagar  lived  to  see  the  work  of  Cath- 
olic emancipation,  as  well  as  of  Irish  literature,  progress- 
ing beyond  belief  or  expectation.  Of  both  movements  he 
might  well  be  called  "  lather."  With  Mr.  O'Connor,  in 
the  formation  of  the  Association  of  1757,  the  principal 

*■  ■  ■       ■■  -■■—,.,     ,    .     ,  „■-■  ,.,, .— ^— —  ,   ,,  ■■  ■_^— — -,.  I  ■      ■■■      —i> 

*  Memoir  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Charles  O'Connor,  toI.  i.  p.  17&* 


\ 


236 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


persons  were,  Dr.  Curry,  of  Dublin,  before  mentioned, 
and  Mr.  Wyse,  of  Waterford,  a  successful  merchant. 
<*  This  gentleman,"  (says  the  author  of  the  Protestant 
Interest  Considered^)  ^'at  an  expense  to  which  few 
private  fortunes  are  equal,  hath  introduced  useful  arts 
mto  this  kingdoln ;  and  if  he  failed  in  any,  it  was  not 
from  any  impractibility  in  the  scheme  itself,  but  from 
the  want  of  that  assistance  which  ambition  for  the  public 
interest  should  never  be  destitute  of."  *  To  these  three 
gentlemen,  more  especially  to  the  first,  belongs  the  merit 
of  the  first  legal  resistance  to  the  penal  code  since  Sir 
Toby  Butler's  time ;  and  the  first  attempt  at  a  peaceable 
organization  of  the  scattered  strength  of  the  Catholics. 

The  greatest  obstacle  of  the  new  leaders  was  the 
rooted  indifference  of  many  of  the  Catholics  themselves. 
*<  Too  many  among  this  party,"  says  an  anonymous 
Catholic  writer,  in  1755,  <<  are  grown  listless  and  ijidiffer- 
ent,  with  regard  to  pain  or  liberty ;  like  men  long  confined, 
they  soothe  themselves  into  an  unmanly  stupefaction, 
grbw  regardless  of  all  events,  and  think  of  nothing 
above  or  beyond  the  present  condition.  Let  this  politi- 
cal apathy  be  never  so  general,  it  ought  to  be  shaken  off. 
No  merit  can  result  from  the  silence  of  grievances  which 
ought  to  be  known  to  the  public,  as  it  is  affected  by 
them ;  and  known  to  the  legislature  also,  as  that  alone 
can  redress  them.  What,  then,  have  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics for  fear  ?  "  f 

In  1758,  the  rumors  of  a  projected  French  invasion 
under  Confians  caused  the  Catholic  body  to  rise  into 
favor  with  the  house  of  Hanover.  John,  Duke  of  Bed- 
ford, the  viceroy,  acted  upon  instructions  to  conciliate. 
The  next  year,  "  the  Roman  Catholic  gentlemen,  mer- 
chants, and  citizens  of  Publin,"  in  an  address  to 
the  duke,  drafted  by  Bishop  O'Keefe,  of  Kildare, 
after  complimenting  the  reigning  family,  added,  "  We 
sincerely  assure    your  grace    that  we  ai[e  ready  and 


*  Protestant  Interest  Considered,  p.  47- 
t  Case  of  the  Catholics,  addressed  to  Lord  Hartington. 
Lord,  1755. 


Dublin,  P. 


PROTESTANT   REPORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


337 


men,  mer- 


willing,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  to  assist  in  support- 
ing his  majesty's  government  against  all  hostile  attempts 
whatsoever."  In  his  reply,  the  viceroy  observed,  "  It 
gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  find  that  they  (the 
Catholics)  are  so  fully  sensible  of  the  lenity  which  hath 
been  extended  to  them  during  the  whole  course  of  his 
majesty's  reign  ;  and  they  may  be  assured,  that,  so  long 
as  they  conduct  themselves  with  duty  and  affection  to 
the  king,  they  will  not  fail  to  receive  his  majesty's  pro- 
tection." In  the  same  reply,  he  observed,  "  The  zeal  and 
attachment  they  profess  to  his  majesty's  person  and 
government  can  never  be  more  seasonably  manifested 
than  in  the  present  conjuncture."  The  Catholic  prelates 
were  not  slow  in  taking  this  hint.  Their  pastorals,  ex- 
horting to  loyalty  and  peace,  were  read  from  every  altar ; 
and  when,  in  1760,  the  French  under  Thurot  landed  at 
Carrickfergus,*  —  their  first  visit  to  Ireland  for  about 
seventy  years,  —  they  found  no  native  insurrection  on 
foot.  After  taking  the  town  and  castle,  and  waiting  in 
vain  for  auxiliaries,  they  put  to  sea,  were  attacked  by  a 
British  fleet  m  the  Channel,  when  their  ships  were  dis- 
persed, and  Thurot  killed  in  the  action.  On  the  first 
report  of  the  landing  of  the  French,  the  Irish  Parliament 
had  promptly  raised  six  regiments  of  foot,  and  a  troop 
of  horse ;  they  also  voted  £150,000  for  the  public  ser- 
vice, and  later  in  the  same  session  £300,000.  The  sums 
were  expended,  but  the  new  levies  were  not  called  into 
the  field.  The  accession  of  George  III.,  the  same  year, 
called  out  fresh  Catholic  addresses,  which,  in  1761  and 
1762,  were  repeated,  with  little  variation  of  terms,  or 
purport.  The  eighth  year  of  this  reign  is  remarkable  as 
the  date  of  the  first  Catholic  relief  bill,  which  passed  the 
Irish  Parliament — an  act  for  empowering  Catholics  to 
loan  money  on  real  estate  mortgage.  The  Irish  houses 
passed  it  without  a  division,  but  it  was  rejected  by  the 
king  in  council.  The  first  relief  bill  which  became  law 
dates  only  from  1774. 

*  Thurot,  an  old  privateer,  or  better  sort  of  smiiggler,  was  long  fa- 
miliar with  the  ChanneL  He  passed  the  year  1760  in  Carlingford,  and 
learned  the  English  language  there. — Dublin  Penny  Journal  far  1832, 
t».  33. 


^8 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


Before  coming  to  that  point  of  time,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  agrarian  combinations  of  the  ten  years,  of 
which  we  treat  in  this  chapter.  Four  famines  within 
twenty  years  had  driven  the  peasantry  to  despair.  Lord 
Taafe  has  well  described  one  element  in  their  altered 
condition.     "  No  sooner,"  he  says,  — 

"  Were  the  Catholics  excluded  from  durable  and 
profitable  tenures,  than  they  commenced  graziers,  and 
laid  aside  agriculture;  they  ceased  from  draining 
or  enclosing  their  farms  and  building  good  houses,  as 
occupations  unsuited  to  the  new  post  assigned  them  in 
our  national  economy.  They  fell  to  wasting  the  lands 
they  were  virtually  forbid  to  cultivate ;  the  business  of 
pasturage  being  compatible  with  such  conduct,  and  re« 
quiring  also  little  industry  and  still  less  labor  in  the  man- 
agement. This  business,  moreover,  brings  quick  returns 
in  money ;  and  though  its  profits  be  smaller  than  those 
arising  from  agriculture,  yet  they  are  more  immediate, 
and  much  better  adapted  to  the  condition  of  men  who  are 
confined  to  a  fugitive  property,  which  can  so  readily  be 
transferred  from  one  country  to  another.  This  pastoral 
occupation  also  eludes  the  vigilance  of  our  present  race 
of  informers,  as  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining  a  grazier's 
profits  is  considerable,  and  as  the  proofs  of  his  enjoying 
more  than  a  third  penny  profit  cannot  so  easily  be  made 
clear  in  our  courts  of  law.  The  keeping  the  lands 
waste  also  prevents,  in  a  great  degree,  leases  in  rever- 
sion, which  Protestants  only  are  qualified  to  take; 
and  this  (by  the  small  temptation  to  such  reversions) 
gives  the  present  occupant  the  best  title  to  a  future 
renewal.  This  sort  of  self-defence,  in  keeping  the 
lands  uncultivated,  had  the  further  ill  consequence  of 
expelling  that  most  useful  body  of  people,  called  yeo- 
manry, in  England,  and  which  we  denominated  Scu- 
loags,  in  Ireland.  Communities  of  industrious  house- 
keepers, who,  in  my  own  timcj  herded  together  in  large 
villages,  and  cultivated  the  lands  every  where,  lived 
comfortably,  until,  as  leases  expired,  some  rich  grazier, 
negotiating  privately  with  a  sum  of  ready  money,  took 
these  lands  over  their  heads.    This  is  a  fact  well 


PROTESTANT    RRPORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


«  known.  The  Sculoag  race,  that  groat  nursery  of  labor- 
"  ers  and  manufacturers,  han  been  broken  and  dispersed 
«  in  every  quarter ;  and  we  have  nothing  in  lieu,  but  the 
«  most  miserable  wretches  on  earth,  the  cottagers ;  naked 
« slaves,  who  labor  without  any  nourishing  food,  and 
«<  live  while  they  can,  without  houses  or  covering,  under 
«  the  lash  of  merciless  and  relentless  taskmasters  I " 

Another  contemporary  author  gives  this  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  same  disturbances  :  "  Some  landlords  in 
Muiister  have  let  their  lands  to  cotters  far  above  their 
value,  and,  to  lighten  their  burden,  allowed  commonage 
to  their  tenants  by  way  of  recompense :  afterw^ards,  in 
despite  of  all  equity,  contrary  to  all  compacts,  the  land- 
lords enclosed  these  commons,  and  precluded  their  un- 
happy tenants  from  the  only  means  of  nicking  their 
bargains  tolerable."*  The  peasantry  of  Waterford, 
Cork,  and  other  southern  counties  met  in  tumultuous 
crowds,  and  demolished  the  new  enclosures.  The 
Protestant  Parliament  took  their  usual  cue  on  such  occa- 
sions :  they  pronounced,  at  once,  that  the  cause  of  the 
riots  was  "  treason  against  the  state  ;  "  they  even  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  "inquire  into  the  cause  and 
progiress  of  the  Popish  insurrection  in  Munster."  Al- 
though the  London  Gazette,  on  the  authority  of  royal 
commissioners,  declared  that  the  rioters  "  consisted  in- 
discriminately of  persons  of  different  persuasions,"  the 
castle  bigots  would  have  it  to  be  **  another  Popish  plot." 
Even  Lucas,  the  patriot  leader,  was  carried  away  by  the 
passions  of  the  hour,  and  declaimed  against  all  lenity, 
as  cowardly  and  criminal. 

A  large  military  force,  under  the  Marquis  of  Droghed?., 
was  despatched  to  the  south.  The  marquis  fixed  his 
head-quarters  at  Clogheen,  in  Tipperary,  the  parish 
priest  of  which  district  was  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Sbeehy. 
The  magistracy  of  the  county,  especially  Sir  Thomas 
Maude,  William  Bagnel,  John  BagwcM,  Daniel  Toler, 
and  Parson  Hewetson,  were  among  the  chief  maintainers 


*  An  Inquiry  into  the  Causes  of  the  Outrages  committed  by  the  Lev- 
ellers or  Whiteboys  in  Munster.     Dublin,  1762. 


240 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


|yt  tf 


of  the  existence  of  a  Popish  plot,  to  bring  in  the  French 
and  the  pretender.  They  were  well  compared  by  Dr. 
Curry  to  Oates  and  his  corps;  except  that  it  pleased 
God  to  defeat  their  machinations,  with  less  loss  of  life 
than  followed  the  earlier  "  discoverers."  Father  Sheehy 
was  fixed  upon  as  their  first  victim :  largely  connected 
with  the  minor  gentry,  educated  in  France,  young, 
popular,  eloquent,  and  energetic,  a  stern  denouncer  of 
the  licentious  lives  of  the  squires,  and  of  the  exacting 
tithes  of  the  parsons,  he  was  particularly  obnoxious.  In 
1763,  he  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  for 
drilling  and  enrolling  Whiteboys,  but  was  acquitted. 
Towards  the  close  of  that  year.  Bridge,  one  of  the  late 
witnesses  against  him,  suddenly  disappeared.  A  charge 
of  murder»was  then  laid  against  the  priest  of  Clogheen, 
and  a  prostitute  named  Dunlea,  a  vagrant  lad  named  Lon- 
ergan,  and  a  convicted  horse  stealer  called  Tooh^y,  were 
produced  in  evidence  against  him,  after  he  had  lain 
nearly  a  year  in  prison,  heavily  fettered.  On  the  12th 
of  March,  he  was  tried  at  Clonmel,  on  this  evidence ;  and 
notwithstanding  an  alibi  was  proved,  he  was  condemned 
and  beheaded  on  the  third  day  afterwards.  Beside  the 
old  ruined  church  of  Shandragan  his  well-worn  tomb 
remains  till  this  day.  He  died  in  his  thirty-eighth  year. 
Two  months  later,  Edward  Sheehy,  his  cousin,  and  two 
respectable  young  farmers  named  Buxton  and  Farrell, 
were  executed  under  a  similar  charge,  and  upon  the 
same  testimony.  All  died  with  religious  firmness  and 
composure.  But  their  persecutors,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, met  deaths  violent,  loathsome,  and  terrible.  Maude 
died  insane,  Bagwell  in  idiocy,  one  of  the  jury  commit- 
ted suicide,  another  was  found  dead  in  a  privy,  a  third 
was  killed  by  bis  horse,  a  fourth  was  drowned,  a  fifth 
shot,  and  so  through  the  entire  list.  Toohey  was  hanged 
for  felony,  the  prostitute  Dunlea  fell  into  a  cellar  and 
was  killed,  and  thef  lad  Lonergan,  after  enlisting  as  a 
soldier,  died  of  a  loathsome  disease  ,in  a  Dublin  in- 
firmary.* 

*  Madden's  United  Irishmen,  Second  Series,  vol.  i.  Introduction,  p. 
Ixxxiy. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    tN    IRELAND. 


241 


In  1767,  an  attempt  to  continue  the  plot  was  made 
by  the  Tipperary  magistrates,  without  success.  Dr. 
McKenna,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  was  arrested  but  enlarged; 
Mr.  Nagle,  of  Garnavilia,  (a  relative  of  Burke's,)  Mr. 
Robert  Keating,  and  several  respectable  Catholic  gentle- 
men were  also  arrested.  It  appears  that  Edmund  Burke 
was  charged  with  having  "  sent  his  brother  Richard 
(who  died  recorder  of  Bristol)  and  Mr.  Nagle,  a  relation, 
on  a  mission  to  Munster,  to  levy  money  on  the  Popisli 
body  for  the  use  of  the  Whiteboys,  who  were  exclusively 
Papists."  *  The  second  batch  of  indictments  was  thrown 
out  by  the  grand  jury,  ancl  so  that  plot  exploded. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Whiteboys  were  the  north- 
ern agrarians  called  "  Hearts  of  Steel,"  formed  among 
the  absentee  Lord  Downshire's  tenants,  in' 1762;  the 
"  Oak  Boys,"  so  called  from  wearing  oak  leaves  in  their 
hats;  and  the  "Peep  o'Day  Boys."  The  infection  of 
conspiracy  ran  through  all  Ireland,  and  the  disorder  was 
neither  shortlived  nor  trival.  Rightboys,  Defenders, 
Orangemen,  and  Ribbonmen  descended  from  the  same 
evil  genius,  (whoever  he  was,)  who  first  introduced  the 
system  of  signs,  grips,  passwords,  and  midnight  meet- 
ings, among  the  brave  and  pious  peasantry  of  Ireland. 
The  celebrated  society  of  United  Irishmen  was  the 
highest  form  which  that  principle,  in  our  politics,  ever 
reached.  In  its  origin,  it  was  a  purely  Protestant  organ- 
ization. 

From  the  first,  the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy  strenu- 
ously opposed  these  secret  societies.  In  1762,  the 
Bishop  of  Cloyne  issued  a  reprobatory  pastoral  against 
them ;  in  1779,  the  Bishop  of  Ossory  did  likewise. 
Priests  in  Kildare,  Kilkenny,  and  Munster  were  in  per- 
sonal danger  from  these  midnight  legislators ;  their 
chapels  had  been  frequently  nailed  up,  and  their  bishops 
had  been  often  obliged  to  remove  them,  from  fear  of 
consequences.!     The  infatuation  was  not  to  be  stayed : 


*  Sir  R.  Musgrave's,  Rebellion  of  1798. 

t  Debates  in  the  Irish  Parliament,  1786.  The  celebrated  Father  Ar- 
thur O'Leary  commenced  his  career  of  authorslup  by  attempts  to 
reason  with  the  Whiteboys.    The  trial  of  Redmond  Sheehy,  he  says 

21 


Jiim* 


942 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


the  best  friends  of  the  misguided  people  prayed  and  ex- 
horted in  vain ;  the  emissary,  the  informer,  and  the  hang< 
roan  rejoiced,  and. reaped  a  harvest,  at  every  season  of 
the  year.  We  should  not  wonder  to  find  Edmund 
Burke  speaking  of  "  the  savage  period  between  1761  and 
1767,"  as  the  most  disastrous  and  oppressive  that  Irish 
Catholics  had  experienced  within  his  memory. 

Ip  these  momentous  years,  the  sect  called  Method- 
ists  first  appeared  in  Ireland.  It  originated  at  Oxford 
College,. with  Charles  Wesley  and  some  others,  who,  by 
the  precision  and  austerity  of  their  demeanor,  received 
this  title.  Their  practices  were  spread  abroad  chiefly  by 
George  Whitefield,  John  Wesley,  and  Adam  Clarke, 
and  soon  assumed  the  form  of  a  dogmatic  creed.  Their 
doctrines,  in  many  points,  were  repetitions  of  the  thirty- 
nine  articles  of  the  Anglican  establishment ;  but  on  the 
great  question  of  grace  they  differed  from  those  articles, 
and  differed  among  one  another.  Whitefield  held  Calvin's 
doctrine  of  the  absolute  predestination  of  the  elect; 
while  Wesley  held,  with  Arminius,  that  God  had  elected 
from  the  beginning  those  only  whom  he  foresaw  would 
persevere  to  the  end.  The  Wesleyans  were  the  most 
numerous  among  the  Protestants  of  Ireland.  In  1747, 
John  Wesley  paid  a  flying  visit  to  Dublin  and  Munster, 
and  left  his  brother  Charles  behind  to  complete  the  o^ 
ganization.  Charles  remained  for  nearly  a  year  preach- 
ing in  the  capital,  at  Cork,  and  Bandon,  "  with  great 
unction  and  success,"  as  he  has  it.  Among  the  small 
number  of  the  Irish  "  elect "  was  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  a 
native  of  Derry.  and  a  very  learned  man,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Walsh,  who  induced  Wesley  to  adopt  those 
views  of  grace  which  led  to  the  division  of  the  sect. 
"  Such  a  master  of  biblical  knowledge,"  says  Wesley, 
"  I  never  knew  before,  and  never  hope  to  see  again." 
Walsh's  accomplishments,  if  the  panegyric  is  not  over- 
done, were  certainly  extraordinary.  He  was  admitted 
as  a  preacher  in  1750,  and  died  in  1750.  He  "  some* 
times  preached  in  Irish,  but  mostly  in  English.'* 

was  « the  first  paper  "  he  read  "  after  landing  in  Cork,  from  France," 
where  he  was  educated.  This  fixes  his  return  to  Ireland  in  1766  n 
1767. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


343 


In  1775,  John  Wesley  revisited  Ireland,  and  preached 
chiefly  in  Ulster.  Falling  sick  there,  be  soon  returned 
to  England. 

From  ApriltillJuly,  1757,  George  Whitefield"  preached 
nearly  eighty  sermons,"  in  Dublin,  Athlone,  Limerick, 
Cork,  and  Belfast.  "  I  found,"  he  writes,  "  through  the 
many  offences  that  have  lately  been  given,  matters  were 
brought  to  a  low  ebb.  But  the  cry  now  is,  '  Method- 
ism is  revived  again.' "  Again :  "  Numbers  are  converted, 
not  only  from  Popery,  but  to  Jesus  Christ."  We  discover 
that  neither  Wesley  nor  Whitefield  adduces  the  namea 
of  those  converts  who  had  experienced  their  revelation ; 
and  hence  we  conclude,  that  these  general  assertions 
are  not  to  be  taken  literally.  Many  recruits  to  Method- 
ism were,  no  doubt,  picked  up  upon  the  outskirts  of  the 
older  Protestant  sects,  but  few  or  none  in  the  Catholic 
ranks.* 

•  W>Aiit".3ia  died  in  1770 ;  Charles  Wesley  in  1788^  John  Wesley  in 
1791.    r^'      I  tie  number  of  Methodists  in  Ireland,  at  the  census  of 

1861,  wa'      ,y  0. 


244 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


1 1 


CHAPTER  m. 

SECOND  CATHOLIC  COMMITTEE  FORMED CONCESSIONS  IN  1774  AND 

1778 SECESSION  OF  "  LORD  KENMARE  AND  THE  SIXTY-EIGHT."- 

-  JOHN  KEOGH,  LEADER  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.— MANAGEMENT  OF 
THE  COMMITTEE.  —  COOPERATION  OF  EDMUND  BURKE.  -  GENERAL 
DISCUSSION  OF  CATHOLIC  PRINCIPLES  IN  IRELAND  AND  ENG- 
LAND  ARTHUR  O'LEARY BURKE  AND  TONE.  — LONDON  RIOTS 

OF  1780.- IRISH  CATHOLIC  CONVENTION  ELECTED.— THEIR  DEL- 
EGATES PRESENTED  TO  GEORGE  HI.,  AND  DEMAND  TOTAL  EMAN- 
CIPATION  RELIED'  BILL  OF  17&3.  —  POLITICAL  REACTION. 

Though  the  intentions  of  the  Irish  Parliament  towards 
the  Catholics  in  1762  were  defeated  by  the  king  in  coun- 
cil, the  party  in  favor  of  justice  and  toleration  was 
steadily  on  the  increase.  The  judicious  conduct  of  the 
bishops,  the  influence  of  the  Dublin  press,  and  the  grow- 
ing nationality  of  the  patriot  party,  were  so  much  gained. 
Every  day  new  reasons  for  relief  were  discovered. 
When  Canada  was  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  it  was 
well  said  to  the  rulers  who  accepted  it,  "  You  tolerate 
Catholics  in  Canada;  why  not  in  Ireland?"  When 
trade  reports  represented  the  drain  of  specie  by  excess  of 
imports  and  the  insolvency  of  the  banks,  it  was  well 
said  again,  "  Why  do  you  condemn  four  fifths  of  the 
people  to  a  condition  in  which  they  become  a  load  and 
a  burden  rather  than  a  strength  to  the  nation  ?  "  -When 
rumors  of  hostile  intentions  on  the  part  of  France  and 
Spain  were  repeated,  the  cry  was,  "  Liberate  the  Catho- 
lics, and  they  will  be  your  best  allies  in  a  defensive  war." 
This  idea  had  advanced  from  a  secondary  to  a  first  con- 
sequence in  the  minds  of  a  large  number  of  thinking 
men,  and  no  question  of  the  day  arose  but  they,  in  one 
way  or  other,  made  it  a  text  for  discussing  the  claims 
of  the  Catholics.  At  this  favorable  juncture,  an  attempt, 
in  1773,  of  the  corporation  of  Dublin  and  other  cities, 
to  impose  a  local  tax  exclusively  on  Catholics,  under 
the  name  of  quarterage,  stimulated  the  formation  of  the 
society  known  as  the  general  committee  of  the  Irish 
Catholics. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


245 


Lords  Kenmare,  Fingal,  and  some  other  country  gen- 
tlemen were  the  most  important  of  the  movers  in  this 
body ;  but  another  class  of  great  intelligence  and  activity 
was  formed  by  the  Catholic  merchants.  A  voluntary  fund 
was  subscribed,  in  which  the  merchants  were  not  behind 
the  gentry ;  a  treasurer  (Mr.  Dermot)  was  appointed,  and 
an  honorary  secretary,  (Mr.  Richard  McCormick,)  both 
firom  among  the  merchants.  By  this  committee  Lord 
Kenmare  was  sent  over  to  London  to  communicate  with 
the  friends  of  the  Catholics  there,  and  to  ascertain  the 
sbiitiments  of  the  king  and  ministers.  His  lordship 
established  a  good  understanding  with  Mr.  Burke,  Sir 
Greorge  Saville,  Lord  Mansfield,  and  other  friends  of  tol- 
eration in  Parliament,  as  well  as  with  the  chiefs  of  the 
English  Catholics,  clerical  and  lay,  who,  at  that  veiy 
time,  were  bestirring  themselves  to  recover  their  civil 
rights.  The  expenses  of  Lord  Kenmare  on  this  mission, 
amounting  to  .£1500,  were  disbursed  by  the  committee 
at  Dublin.*  One  immediate  result  was,  to  raise  the 
consideration  of  the  Irish  Catholics  at  home.  The  "  act 
to  enable  all  classes  of  his  majesty's  subjects  to  testify 
their  allegiance  to  him"  —  in  other  words,  modifying 
the  oath  of  allegiance  so  that  Catholics  might  freely  take 
it — was  passed  in  the  spring  of  1774.  A  little  later 
Lord  Buckinghamshire  permitted  a  deputation  to  present 
him  with  a  truly  humble  petition  to  be  forwarded  to  the 
king,  and  so  the  wedge  was  entered.  "  There  it  goes," 
cried  Anthony  Malone,  as  the  first  relief  bill  passed, 
"  and  I  am  heartily  glad  of  it,  for  now  the  whole  system 
must  come  down."-}- 

The  right  of  petition,  being  implied  in  that  of  "  testi- 
fying allegiance,"  was  at  once  acted  upon  by  those 
concerned.  A  painfqlly-affecting  document  was  that 
which  the  viceroy  condescended  to  receive  from  the 
hands  of  Lord  Fingal,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Preston,  and  Mr. 
Dermot.  .  Its  prayer  was  strictly  confined  to  the  removal 
of  disabilities  affecting  real  property.  The  petitioners 
state, — 

^  Tone's  Memoirs,pyol.  i.  p.  483. 
t  Life  of  Grattan,  yoL  L 

21*  ' 


2m 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


f    'I 


"We  are,  may  it  please  your  majesty,  a  numerous 
"  and  very  industrious  part  of  your  majesty's  subjects ; 
"  and  yet  by  no  industry,  by  no  honest  endeavors  on  our 
"  part,  is  il  in  our  power  to  acquire  or  to  hold  almost 
"any  secure  or  permanent  property  whatsoever;  we 
"'  are  not  only  disqualified  to  purchase,  but  are  disabled 
"from  occupying,  any  land,  even  in  farm,  except  on  a 
"tenure  extremely  scanted  both  in  profit  and  in  time; 
"ind  if  we  should  venture  to  expend  any  thing  on  the 
"melioration  of  land  thus  held,  by  building,  by  enclosure, 
"by  draining,  or  by  any  other  species  of  improvement,  so 
"very  necessary  in  this  country,  so  far  would  our  services 
"  be  from  bettering  our  fortunes,  that  these  are  precisely 
"  the  very  circumstances  which,  as  the  law  now  stands, 
"must  necessarily  disqualify  us  from  continuing  those 
"  farms  for  any  time  in  our  possession^ 

"  Whilst  the  endeavors  of  our  industry  are  thus  dis- 
"  couraged,  (no  less,  we  humbly  apprehend,  to  the  detri- 
"  ment  of  the  national  prosperity  and  the  diminution  of 
"your  majesty's  revenue  than  to  our  particular  ruin,) 
"  there  are  a  set  of  men,  who,  instead  of  exercising  any 
"honest  occupation  in  the  commonwealth,  make  it  their 
"  employment  to  pry  into  our  miserable  property,  to  drag 
"  us  into  the  courts,  and  to  compel  us  to  confess  on  our 
"  oaths^  and  under  the  penalties  of  perjury,  whether  we 
"have  in  any  instance  acquired  a  property  in  th^  small- 
^'  est  degree  exceeding  what  the  rigor  of  the  law  has.  ad- 
"  mitted ;  and  in ,  such  case  the  informers,  without  any 
"  other  merit  than  that  of  their  discovery,  are  invefjted 
"  (to  the  daily  ruin  of  several  innocent,  industrious  fam- 
"  ilies)  not  only  with  the  surplus  in  which  the  law  is  ex- 
"  ceeded,  but  in  the  whole  body  of  the  estate  and  interest 
"  so  discovered ;  and  it  is  our  grief  that  this  evil  is  likely 
"  to  continue  and  increase,  as  informers  have,  in  this 
"  country,  almost  worn  off  the  infamy  which  in  all  ages 
"  and  in  all  other  countries  has  attended  their  character, 
"  and  have  grown  into  some  repute  by  the  frequency  and 
"  success  of  their  practices. 

"  And  this,  most  gracious  sovereign,  though  extremely 
"  grievous,  is  far  from  being  the  only  or  most  oppressive 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


247 


jever;  we 


«  particular  in  which  our  distress  is  connected  with  the 
« breach  ,of  the  rules  of  honor  and  morality.  By  the 
« laws  now  in  force  in  this  kingdom,  a  son,  however  un- 
«  dutiful  or  profligate,  shall,  merely  by  the  merit  of  con- 
"  forming  to  the  established  religion,  deprive  the  Roman 
"  Catholic  father  of  that  free  and  full  possession  of  his 
«  estate,  that  power  to  mortgage  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
"  it,  as  the  exigencies  of  his  afrairs  may  require ;  but  shall 
"  himself  have  ftiU  liberty  immediately  to  mortgage  or 
"  otherwise  alienate  the  reversion  of  that  estate  from  his 
"  family  forever  —  0  ^  gL.  9n  by  which  a  father,  con- 
"trary  to  the  order  oi  .^atm  ,  is  put  under  tl  ;:v>wer  of 
'^  his  son,  and  through  which  an  early  dissoluteness  is  not 
"  only  suffered,  but  encouraged,  by  giving  a  pernicious 
"privilege,  the  frequent  use  of  which  has  broken  the 
"  hearts  of  many  deserving  parents,  and  entailed  poverty 
"  and  despair  on  some  of  the  most  ancient  and  opulent 
"  families  in  this  kingdom. 

"  Even  when  the  parent  has  the  good  fortune  to 
"  escape  this  calamity  in  his  lifetime,  yet  he  has  at  his 
"  death  the  melancholy  and  almost  certain  prospect  of 
"  leaving  neither  peace  nor  fortune  to  his  children ;  for 
"  by  that  law  which  bestows  the  whole  fortune  on  the 
"first  conformist,  or,  on  nonconformity,  disperses  it 
"  among  the  children,  incurable  jealousies  and  animos- 
"  ities  have  arisen,  a  total  extinction  of  principle  and  of 
"  natural  benevolence  has  ensued,  whilst  we  are  obliged 
"  to  consider  our  own  offspring  and  the  brothers  of  our 
"  own  blood  as  our  most  dangerous  enemies  ;  the  bless- 
"  ing  of  Providence  on  our  families,  in  a  numerous  issue, 
"  is  converted  into  the  most  certain  means  of  their  ruin 
"  and  depravation :  we  are,  most  gracious  sovereign, 
"  neither  permitted  to  enjoy  the  few  broken  remains  of 
"our  patrimonial  inheritance,  nor  by  our  iridustry  to 
"  acquire  any  secure  establishment  to  our  familie^."  * 

1^0  this  petition  (it  was  written  by  Edmund  Burke) 
no  answer  was  at  that  time  returned.  Almost  the  whole 
body  of  Catholics  had  taken  the  new  oath  of  allegiance 


•  Parnell's  History  of  the  Penal  Laws,  pp.  111-113. 


248 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   TUB 


prescribed  by  the  act  of  that  year ;  the  Munster  bishops 
neld  a  special  synod  in  177d,  to  explain  and  enforce  it, 
and  with  Archbishop  Butler  at  their  head,  set  an  exam- 
ple of  publicly  taking  it.  Father  O'Leary  and  other 
Catholics  preached  and  wrote  in  its  maintenance,  and  by 
dint  of  a  great  display  of  loyalty,  succeeded,  at  length, 
in  attracting  the  further  attention  of  the  legislature.  In 
this  effort  the  American  war  helped  them  materially ;  it 
was  remarked  that,  as  the  cause  of  the  colonies  pro- 
gressed, so  did  that  of  the  Catholics. 

A  biU  granting  concessions  in  relation  to  the  holding 
of  real  estate  was  drawn,  and  had  been  much  discussed 
by  letter  between  Burke  and  the  Catholic  leaders  and 
Mr.  Perry,  speaker  of  the  Irish  Commons  House,  who 
favored  it.  After  much  negotiation  to  and  fro,  and 
much  sounding  of  the  castle  and  the  king,  the  biU  passed 
in  1778,*  another  rumored  French  invasion  ana  Bur- 
goyne's  surrender  being  principals  to  its  passage ;  indeed, 
they  might  be  called  the  proposer  and  seconder.  By  tiiis 
law,  Catholics  were  allowed  to  lend  money  on  real  estate 
mortgage,  to  lease  land  for  a  term  of  years  not  exceeding 
one  thousand,  (there  was  a  majoritj'^  of  three  against 
their  holding  in  fee,)  to  hold  lands  devised  to  them,  and  to 
make  demises  as  other  owners  of  estates  did.  The  prin- 
ciple of  property  —  the  fundamental  rule  of  all  fixed 
society  —  was  thup  restored.  This  was  a  great  matter. 
Property  is  the  first  lesson  which  barbarism  learns  from 
civilization ;  it  is  the  constitutional  conservator  of  order 
and  justice,  the  standard  and  the  reward  of  industry  and 
fonduct.  After  two  centuries  of  confiscation,  the  heirs 
oi'  the  reformers  had  to  humble  their  crests,  and  restore 
that  social  principle  of  the  right  to  acquire  property 
which  Elizabeth,  Cecil,  and  Cromwell,  Ormond,  and 
William  III.  had  so  laboriously  endeavored  to  strike  out 
of  the  hearts  of  the  Irish  Catholics.  Many  of  this  class, 
cit  home  and  abroad,  had  amassed  large  su.'^is  of  money, 
and  after  the  law  of  1778,  stepped  eagerly  into  the  markets, 


*  In  1774  passed  what,  in  strict  construction,  might  he  called  the  first 
relief  bill  —  the  "  act  to  enable  aU  classes  of  his  majesty's  subjects  to 
testify  their  allegiance  to  him." 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


249 


and  purchased  the  estates  of  insolvent  Protestant  propri- 
etors. A  few  years  later,  we  find  the  result  in  the  ex- 
tended ranks  and  influenee  of  the  Catholic  gentry.  At 
the  close  of  the  century,  they  had  recovered  one  fifth  of 
the  real  estate  of  the  whole  kingdom. 

The  general  politics  of  the  empire  were  at  this  period 
the  best  auxiliary  of  the  Catholics  and  of  the  patriot 
party.  In  1776,  the  army  was  withdrawn  from  Ireland 
to  serve  in  America ;  the  next  year  the  volunteers  were 
organized ;  the  nt;xt,  Burgoyne's  surrender  was  celebrated 
in  the  streets  of  Dublin  ;  in  1779,  the  combined  fleets  of 
France  and  Spain  appeared  in  the  Channel,  and  Ireland 
demanded  "  free  trade  "  —  the  freedom  of  her  exports 
and  imports  from  English  restrictions.  While  Arthur 
O'Leary  exhorted  the  Munster  peasantry  to  loyalty, 
Henry  Grattan  draughted  the  resolutions  of  Dungannon, 
where  one  hundred  and  forty-three  Protestant  regiments 
resolved^  "  that  no  power  on  earth,  save  the  King,  Lords, 
"  and  Commons  of  Ireland,"  could  of  right  legislate  for 
it.  Besides  the  political  declaration,  there  was  another 
(passed  with  only  two  dissentient  voices)  in  these  words : 
"  that,  as  Christians  and  Protestants,  they  rejoiced  in  the 
"relaxation  of  the  pcn»l  laws  against  their  Roman  Cath- 
"olic  fellow-subjects,  and  that  they  conceived  the 
"  measure  to  be  fraught  with  the  happiest  consequences 
"to  the  union  and  prosperity  of  Ireland."  A  few  days 
later,  the  Catholic  question  came  up  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  on  Mr.  Gardiner's  bill,  which  proposed  to 
give,  the  Catholics  five  concessions :  1.  The  right  to 
hold  land  in  fee  simple.  2.  The  free  exercise  of  their 
religion.  3.  Freedom  of  education.  4.  To  legalize  Cath- 
olic marriages.  5.  To  give  them  the  right  to  bear  arms^ 
and  join  the  militia.  The  debate  commenced  on  the 
first  proposition,  which  Wynne,  Rowley,  and  St.  George^ 
of  the  castle,  opposed,  and  which  Grattan,  Flonrf,- 
Langrishe,  and  Dialy  defended.  The  first  and  third 
clauses  were,  embodied  into  law  and  passed,  but  the 
second,  fourth,  and  fifth  were  omitted.  The  additional 
property  and  intelligence  acquired  under  this  statute 
materially  m&teaned  the  Catholic  strength  aind  influenee. 


\1 


^' 


250 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


Two  months  later,  the  independence  of  the  Irish  Par- 
liament was  admitted  by  the  solemn  act  of  the  kins  and 
the  British  Parliament ;  in  1783,  '84,  '85,  '86,  and  '87, 
the  Parliament  was  exclusively  occupied  by  constitu- 
tional  and  commercial  questions  of  pressing  iniportance; 
simple  repeal,  the  new  tariff,  and  the  marine  laws ;  final- 
ly,  the  regency  question  excluded  for  a  time  the  dis- 
cussion of  all  other  topics.  In  the  spring  of  1788,  the 
subject  of  the  tithe  of  potatoes  levied  on  the  cotters  of 
the  south  came  up,  and  Grattan  made  those  two  won- 
derful speeches  on  that  subject  which  stand  above  com- 
parison with  any  thing  of  the  kind  in  our  language.  To 
that  extent,  tithe  was  abolished,  though  the  principle  was 
not  touched  thereby. 

The  successes  of  1778  and  1782  were  not  followed  up 
with  spirit  and  vigor  by  the  Catholics.  When,  in  1783, 
a  convention  favorable  to  a  reform  in  Parliament,  and 
well  disposed  towards  the  Catholics,  met  at  the  Rotunda, 
In  Lord  Kenmare's  name.  Sir  Boyle  Roche  said,  that 
his  lordship  and  the  Catholic  body  were  well  content 
with  the  concessions  they  had  got,  and  had  no  intention 
of  further  efforts.  This  statement  gave  great  offence  to 
many  Catholics,  especially  those  of  Dublin.  A  further 
attempt  of  the  same  nobleman  to  induce  the  committee 
to  call  on  Catholics  to  withdraw  from  the  volunteer 
forces  led  to  a  discussion,  and  discussion  led  to  secession. 
Failing  to  carry  a  series  of  resolutions,  including  both 
his  propositions.  Lord  Kenmare  and  his  friends  retired. 
They  published  their  documents  as  a  protest,  signed  with 
sixty-eight  names,  chiefly  country  gentlemen  connected  | 
with  the  Catholic  peers.  Three  or  four  bishops  also 
signed  it. 

The  committee  was  thus  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Dub- 

/  iin  merchants,   of  whom  the   principal  were   Edward 

Byrne,*  Richard  McCormick,  and  John  Keogh.     Keogh 

was,  unquestionably,  a  powerful  man :  a«  native  of  the 

west  of  Ireland,  he  had  made  by  trade  a  vast  fortune, 

*  Byrne  was  a  wine  merchant,  and  paid  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
a  year  duty  to  the  govenunent.  See  Qrattan'a  apeech  on  the  Catholic 
dainiB,  in  1798. 


PROTBaTANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRBLANO. 


961 


lived  in  most  hospitable  style  at  Monnt  Jerome,  near  the 
oity ;  had  friends  in  every  town  and  villase  throuffhout 
the  land ;  was  a  donor  to  all  Catholic  charities,  and  high 
in  the  confidence  of  the  majority  of  the  bishops.  Add 
to  this,  abilities  and  judgment  of  a  high  order,  a  fluent 
address,  a  fertile  invention,  a  sober  judgment,  an  endless 
enersy,  and  a  passion  for  politics :  such  was  John  Keogh. 
In  the  long  line  of  Irish  agitators,  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  another  chacacter  s6  memorable  for  disinterested 
and  solid  services. 

To  insure  the  transaction  of  business,  a  sub-committeo 
of  twelve,  chiefly  resident  in  Dublin,  was  chosen  out  of 
"the  general  committee,"  which  included  every  Catholic 
bishop,  merchant,  or  gentleman,  who  subscribed  to  its 
roles.  The  sub-committee  were  to  act  for  them;  the 
general  committee  to  be  convened  only  on  special  occa- 
sions. To  the  latter,  Richard  McCormick  was  honorary 
secretaiy ;  to  the  former,  Theobald  McKenna,  and  after- 
wards Richard  Burke,  son  of  the  illustrious  statesman. 
A  regular  agent  was  maintained  at  London,  '<  a  profes- 
sional gentleman  of  great  respectability,"  to  whom,  from 
time  to  time,  remuneration  to  the  amount  of  ^*  upwards 
of  two  thousand  pounds  "  was  remitted.  This  agent  was 
succeeded  by  Richard  Burke,  who,  during  1791,  attended 
on  the  committee  in  Dublin.  In  1792,  Mr.  Burke's  ser- 
vices were  dispensed  with,  and  a  present  of  fifteen  hundred 
guineas  made  to  him.  In,  July  of  that  year,  Theobald 
Wolf  Tone  was  chosen  secretary,  at  a  salary  of  two 
hundred  pounds  per  year.  He  held  the  office  nea^rly  three 
years,  and  resigned  on  leaving  for  America. 

This  is  the  period  at  which  to  acknowledge  the  great 
services  rendered  to  the  Catholic  cause  by  Edmund  Burke. 
Born  in  Dublin,  in  1730,  educated  partly  in  Kildare  and 
partly  in  Cork,  he  spent  his  first  twenty-five  years  of 
life  in  his  native  land.  A  sickly  and  studious  youth,  he 
read,  observed,  and  reflected  much :  the  son  of  a  Cath- 
olic mother,  and  the  husband  of  a  Catholic  wife,  his 
affections,  as  well  as  his  philosophy,  made  him  tolerant. 
In  1765,  he  had  prepared  his  Tract  on  the  Popery 
Laws.     In  1767,  we  find  him  assisting  the  clefenoeless: 


' 


r.+; 


262 


▲TTEMPTi   to   KSrABLISH    THB 


gentlemen  charged  with  Whiteboyism  at  Clonmel.  He 
made  three  visits  to  Ireland  at  that  <* savage  peiiod;" 
his  election  to  the  English  Parliament  did  not  in  the 
least  turn  him  aside  from  this,  one  of  his  cardinal  points 
of  public  conduct.  In  1774,  he  drew  the  petition  for,  and 
labored  to  push  through,  the  bill  then  proposed.  In 
1778,  in  his  place  in  Parliament,  he  declared  openly  for 
emancipation.  In  1782,  he  wrote  his  noble  letter  on  the 
penal  laws  to  Lord  Kenmare.  We  might  stof)  at  this 
point,  and  honor  him  for  the  debt  then  due.  But  we 
must  not-^fail  to  add  that,  from  that  time  until  his  death, 
he  never  lost  a  session  of  Parliament,  or  any  public  or 
private  opportunity, of  serving  the  Catholics;*  that  he 
gave  his  beloved  son  to  them  as  a  secretary,  and  that  the 
last  work  of  his  hand  was  done  for  their  liberation. 

In  1778,  a  relief  bill  had  been  enacted  at  London, 
very  similar  to  that  passed  in  Ireland,  and  soon  after,  the 
English  Catholics,  from  the  example  of  their  Irish  breth- 
ren, had  formed  a  committee  to  petition  Parliament 
The  recognition  of  their  civil '  existence,  and  this  deter* 
mination  on  their  part  to  assert  their  rights,  led  to  a 
counter  Protestant  movement,!  and  to  a  warm  discussion 
of  their  principles  through  the  press  of  bgth  countries. 
Early  and  conspicuous  in  this  controversy  was  John 
Wesley,  who,  in  1780,  published  two  letters  on  "  the 
civil  principles  of  the  Roman  Catholics,"  in  which  he 
maintained  <^  that  no  government,  not  Roman  Catholic, 
ought  to  tolerate  men  of  the  Roman .  Catholic  ^Jersua- 
sion;"  "that  they  ought  not  to  be  tolerated  by  any 
government,  Protestant,  Mahometan,  or  pagan."  The 
Banie  year,  in  his  Defence  of  the  Protestant  Associa- 
tion, he  exhorted  all  Englishmen  to  act  as  one  man 
with  Lord  George  Gordon,  "to  stop  the  progress  of 
that  soul-deceiving  and  all-destroying  superstition,  which 
threatens  to  overspread  the  land."     As  a  reply  to  Wes- 


*  See  Letters  to  Sir  Hercules  Langrishe,  M.  P.  —  to  William  Smith, 
M.  P.  ^-  to  Thomas  Burgh,  M.  P.  —  to  Richard  Burke,  Esq.,  (his  son)  — 
and  other  papers  on  this  suhject,  in  Burke's  Works  and  Correspondence. 

t  Eighty  •«Prot««tant  Afisooiations"  existed  in  England  and  Scotland 


I' 


PROTBSTANT   KBFORMATION    llf    IBBLANO. 


253 


ley,  Dr.  Coppinger,  afterwardis  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  pub- 
lished his  Principles  of  CatholicS)  a  tract  usually  bound 
ap  with  the  prayer  books  in  use  among  our  fathers  and 
grandfathers,  l^his  pamphlet  ran  through  six  editions  in 
a  short  time  from  its  first  appearance.  A  better-known 
reply  was  made  by  Father  Arthur  O'Leary,  who  chiefly 
dealt  with  the  charge  that  Catholics  believed  "  no  faith 
ought  to  be  kept  with  heretics."  For  point,  humor,  and 
force,  O'Leary's  letter  to  Wesley,  ana  his  rejoinder  to 
Wesley's  reply,  are  among  the  treasures  of  our  language. 
Even  Irish  political  literature,  rich  and  varied  as  it  is, 
has  nothing  of  the  kind  to  surpass,  hardly  any  thing  to 
dispute  rank  with  them.  His  invitation  to  Mr.  Wesley 
to  visit  him  in  Munster  is  a  fair  specimei  of  these 
letters. 

"  Mr.  Wesley  may  consider  me  as  a  fictitious  cbarac' 
"  ter ;  but,  should  he  follow  hia  precursor,  (I  mean  Hs 
"  letter,  wafted  to  us  over  the  British  Channel,)  and,  on 
"  his  mission  frbm  Dublin  to  Bandon,  make  Cork  his 
"  way,  Dr.  Berkely,  parish  minister,  near  Middle^on, 
"  Captains  Stanner,  French,  and  others,  who  were  ^tic 
"  oners  of  war,  in  the  same  place  and  at  the  same  time, 
"  can  fully  satisfy  him  as  to  the  reality  of  my  existence, 
"  in  the  line  already  described ;  and  that  in  the  beard 
"  which  I  then  wore,  and  which,  like  that  of  Sir  Thomas 
"  More,  never  committed  any  treason,  I  never  concealed 
"  either  poison  or  dagger  to  destroy  my  Protestant  neigh- 
<'  bor ;  though  it  was  long  enough  to  set  all  Scotland 
"  in  a  blaze,  and  to  deprive  Lord  G—  G  of  his 

"  senses. 

"  Should  any  of  the  Scotch  missiona.'es  attend  Mr. 
"  Wesley  into  this  kingdom,  and  bring  Tvuh  them  any 
"  of  the  stumps  of  the  fagots  with  which  Henry  VHL, 
"  his  daugliters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  and  the  learned 
"  James  I.,  roasted  the  heretics  of  tlieir  times  in  Smith- 
"  field,  or  some  of  the  fagots  with  which  the  Scotch 
"  saints,  of  whose  proceedings  Mr.  Wesley  is  become 
"  the  apologist,  have  burned  the  houses  of  their  inofFen- 
"  sive  Catholic  neighbors,  we  will  convert  them  to  their 
^  proper  use.  In  £&land;  the  iwolntion  of  the  great  Pla- 
22 


354 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


"  tonic  year  is  almost  completed.  Things  are  reinstated 
"  in  their  primitive  order.  And  the  fagot,  which,  with- 
"  out  any  mission  from  Christ,  preached  the  gospel  by 
"  orders  of  Catholic  and  Protestant  kings,  is  confined  to 
"  the  kitchen.  Thus  what  formerly  roasted  the  man  at 
"  the  stake  now  helps  to  feed  him ;  and  nothing  but  the 
"  severity  of  winter,  and  the  coldi^dss  of  the  climate  in 
"  Scotland,  could  justify  Mr.  Wesley  in  urging  the  rabble 
"  to  light  it.  This  is  a  bad  time  to  introduce  it  amongst 
"  us,  when  we  begin  to  be  formidable  to  our  foes,  and 
"  united  amongst  ourselves.  And,  to  the  glory  of  Ireland 
"  be  it  said,  we  never  condemned  but  murderers  and  per- 
"  petrators  of  unnatural  crimes  to  the  fagot." 

He  portrays  Lord  George  Gordon,  in  a  sentence,  as 
"  a  lord  with  his  hair  cropped,  a  Bible  in  his  hand,  turned 
elder  and  high  priest  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  and 
fainting  for  the  ark  of  IsraeV^  This  correspondence 
occurred  in  January  and  February,  and  the  Protestant 
riots  followed  in  the  month  of  June.  Pfom  the  first  day 
of  that  month  till  the  nineteciith,  London  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  fanatical  mob,  whose  Protestant  exploits  are 
thus  recorded  in  the  Annual  Register  of  the  same 
year :  —  - 

"  Every  body  knows  the  circumstances,  as  well  as  the 
"  event,  of  this  shameful  and  unhappy  affair ;  and  that 
"  Lord  George  Gordon,  who  had  been  early  placed  at  the 
"  head  of  the  Scotch  association  for  the  support  of  the 
"  Protestant  religion,  was  likewise  appointed  president 
"to  an  association  in  London,  formed  in  imitation  or 
"  emulation  of  the  former.  The  public  summons  in 
"  the  newspapers,  by  which  he  assembled  fifty  or  sixty 
"  thousand  men  in  St.  George's  Fields,  under  an  idea  of 
"  delending  the  religion  of  the  country  against  imaginary 
"  danger,  by  accompanying  the  presentment,  and  enfor- 
"  cing  the  matter  of  a  petition  to  Parliament,  demanding 
"  the  repeal  of  the  late  law,  which  afforded  some  relaxa- 
*♦  tion  of  the  penal  statutes  against  Popery,  are  likewise 
**  fresh  in  every  body's  memory. 

"  The  extraordinary  conduct  of  that  noble  person  in 
"  the  House  of  Commons,  during  the  present  session)  and 


T' 


:,:.r 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


255 


the  frequent  interraptions  which  he  gave  to  the  busi- 
ness of  Parliament,  as  well  by  the  ui^ccountable  man- 
ner in  which  he  continually  brought  in  and  treated 
matters  relative  to  religion,  and  the  danger  of  Popery, 
as  the  caprice  with  which  he  divided  the  house,  upon 
questions  wherein  he  stood  nearly  or  entirely  alone, 
were  passed  over,  along  with  other  singularities  in  his 
dress  and  manner,  rather  as  subjects  of  pleasantry  than 
of  serious  notice  or  reprehension.  Even  when  he  in- 
volved matters  of  state  with  those  of  religion,  in  a 
strange  kind  of  language,  boasting  that  he  was  at  the 
head  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  able  men  in 
Scotland,  who  would  quickly  remedy  their  own  griev- 
ances, if  they  were  not  otherwise  redressed,  and  little 
less  than  holding  out  destruction  to  the  crown  and  gov- 
ernment, unless  full  security  was  given  to  the  associa- 
tions in  both  countries,  against  those  imminent  dangers 
with  which  they  were  immediately  threatened  by 
Popery  —  such  things,  and  others,  if  possible,  still  more 
extraordinary,  were  only  treated  merely  as  objects  of 
laughter.  It  is,  however,  possible  that  this  careless- 
ness, or  complacence  of  the  house,  was  at  length  car- 
ried too  far. 

"Besides  the  advertisements  and  resolutions,  the  in- 
flammatory harangue  of  the  president,  at  the  preceding 
meeting  of  the  Protestant  association,  was"  published 
in  the  newspapers,  and  was  full  of  mattSr,  which  might 
w;ell  have  excited  the  most  instant  attention  and  alarm. 
In  that  piece,  the  president  informs  his  enthusiastic  ad- 
herents, among  other  extraordinary  matter,  that,  for  his 
part,  he  would  run  all  hazards  with  the  people ;  and, 
if  the  people  were  too  lukewarm  to  run  all  hazards 
with  him,  when  their  conscience  and  their  country  called 
them  forth,  they  might  get  another  president ;  for  he 
would  tell  them  candidly,  that  he  was  not  a  lukewarm 
man  himself ;  and  if  they  meant  to  spend  their  time  in 
mock  debE^te  and  idle  opposition,  they  might  get  another 
leader.  He  afterwards  declared,  that  if  he  was  at- 
tended by  less  than  twenty  thousand,  on  the  appointed 
day,  he  would  npt  present  their  petition ;  and  he  gave 


256 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH   THE 


I 


"  orders,  inder  the  appesurance  of  a  motion,  for  the  man- 
"  ner  in  which  they  should  be  marshalled  in  St.  George's 
"  Fields ;  appointing  that  they  should  be  formed  in  four 
"  bodies,  three  of  them  regulated  by  the  respective  boun- 
"  daries  of  the  great  divisions  of  the  metropolis,  and 
"  the  fourth  composed  entirely  of  his  own  particular 
"  countrymen.  To  prevent  mistakes,  the  whole  were  to 
"  be  distinguished  by  blue  cockades.  K  this  were  not 
"  sufficient  to  arouse  the  attention  of  government,  Lord 
"  George  Gordon  gave  notice  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
"  on  the  Tuesday,  that  the  petition  would  be  presented 
"  on  the  following  Friday,  and  that  the  whole  body  of 
"  Protestant  associators  were  to  assemble  in  St.  George's 
"  Fields,  in  order  to  accompany  their  petition  to  the 
*'  house. 

"  These  notices  ought  to  have  given  a  more  serious 
"  alarm  than  they  seem  to  have  done  to  governtnent. 
**  The  opposition  afterwards  charged  them  with  little  less 
"  than  a  meditated  encouragement  to  this  fanatic  tumult 
"  in  order  to  discountenance  the  associations  which  had 
"  mote  serious  objects  in  view,  and  to  render  odious  and 
"  contemptible  all  popular  interposition  in  affairs  of  state. 
"  They  reminded  them  of  their  activity  in  giving  orders 
"  to  hold  the  military  in  readiness,  on  a  peaceable  meet- 
"  ing  in  Westminster  Hall,  and  their  utter  neglect  of  the 
"  declared 'and  denounced  violence  of  this  sort  of  people. 

"  The  alarming  cry  against  Popery,  with  the  continual 
"  invective  and  abuse  which  they  disseminated  through 
"  newspapers,  pamphlets,  and  sermons,  by  degrees  drew 
"  over  to  a  meeting,  originally  small  and  obscure,  a  num- 
"  ber  of  well-meaning  people,  from  the  various  classes 
**  of  Protestants,  who  seriously  apprehended  their  reli- 
"  gion  to  be  in  danger.  These,  however  deficient  they 
"  were  in  point  of  consideration,  being,  for  the  far  great- 
"  er  part,  poor  and  ignorant  people,  many  of  whom 
"  could  not  write  their  names,  became  forrnidable  with 
"  respect  to  numbers.  It  is,  i\owever,  to  be  at  all 
"  times  remembered  that  the  cbiiduct  of  these  associa- 
"  tors  was  not  more  execrated  than  the  intolerant  princi- 
"  pie,  to  which  they  owed  their  union  and  action,  was 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


257 


condemned  by  the  sound  and  eminent  divines,  both  of 
the  established  church  and  of  the  dissenters. 
"  On  the  2d  of  June,  the  grand  division  of  associators, 
being  drawn  off,  by  different  routes,  from  the  rendez- 
vous of  St.  George's  Fields,  filled  the  ways  through 
which  they  marched  in  ranks  with  a  multitude  which 
excited  wonder  and  alarm.  Having  arrived  at  the 
place  of  their  destination,  and  filled  up  all  the  streets 
and  avenues  to  both  houses,  they  began  the  exercise  of 
the  new  authority,  derived  firom  their  numbers,  only  by 
compelling  the  members,  as  they  came  down,  to  cry 
out,  '  No  Popery ; '  to  wear  blue  cockades ;  and  some, 
as  it  is  said,  to  take  an  oath  to  contribute  all  in  their 
power  to  the  repeal  of  the  new  law,  or,  as  they  called 
it,  the  Popery  act.  But,  upon  the  appearance  of  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  and  other  of  the  prelates  and 
court  lords,  their  rage  and  violence  were  increased  to 
the  highest  pitch.  During  this  dreadful  tumult,  which 
continued,  with  more  or  less  interruption,  for  some 
hours,  the  archbishop,  the  Duke  of  Northumberland, 
the  lord  president  of  the  council,  with  several  others 
of  the  nobility,  including  most  or  all  of  the  lords  in  of- 
iice,  were  treated  with  the  greatest  indignities.  The 
Bish6p  of  Lincoln,  in  particular,  most  narrowly  escaped 
with  his  life ;  first  by  being  suddenly  carried  into  a 
house,  upon  the  demolition  of  his  carriage,  and  .then 
being  as  expeditiously  led  through,  and  over  its  top, 
into  another.  Lord  Stormo'nt's  life  was  also  in  the 
most  imminent  danger ;  and  he  was  only  rescued,  after 
being  half  an  hour  in  their  hands,  by  the  presence  of 
mind  and  address  of  a  gentleman  who  happened  to  be 
in  the  crowd. 

"  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  astonishment, 
sense  of  degradation,  horror,  and  dismay,  which  pre- 
vailed in  both  houses.  Attempts  were  twice  made  to 
force  their  doors,  and  were  repelled  by  the  firmness 
and  resolution  of  their  doorkeepers  and  other  officers. 
In  this  scene  of  terror  and  danger,  the  resolution  and 
spirit  with  which  a  young  clergyman,  who  acted  as  as- 
sistant, or  substitute,  to  the  chaplain  of  the  House  of 


258 


ATTEMPTS   TQ  ESTABLISH   THE 


w 


"  Commons,  rebuked  the  outrage  of  the  mob,  and  told 
"  their  leader,  in  their  presence,  that  he  was  answerable 
**  for  all  the  blood  that  would  be  shed,  and  all  the  other 
'*  fatal  consequences  that  might  ensue,  merited  some 
"  other  reward  besides  mere  applause. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  author,  mover,  and  leader  of 
"  the  sedition,  having  obtained  leave,  in  the  House  of 
"  Commons,  to  bring  up  vthe  petition,  afterwards  moved 
for  its  being  taken  into  immediate  consideration..  This 
brought  on  some  debate  ;  and  the  rioters  beinc  in  Pos- 
session of  the  lobby,  the  house  were  kept  coi\nned,  for 
several  hours,  before  they  could  divide  upon  the  ques- 
tion. The  impediinent  being  at  length  removed  by 
the  arrival  of  the  magistrates  and  guards,  the  question 
was  rejected,  upon  a  division,  by  a  majority  of  one 
"  hundred  and.  ninety-two  to  six  only,  by  whom  it  was 
**  supported.  During  this  time.  Lord  George  ^ordon 
frequently  went  out  to  the  top  of  the  gallery  stairs, 
from  whence  he  harangued  the  rioters,  telling  them 
what  passed  in  the  house ;  that  their  petition  would  be 
postponed ;  that  he  did  not  like  delays ;  and  repeating 
**  aloud  the  names  of  gentlemen  who  had  opposed  the 
"  taking  it  into  consideration  under  their  present  circum- 
"  stances ;  thus,  in  fact,  holding  them  out  as  obnoxious 
"  persons,  and  enemies,  to  a  lawless  and  desperate  ban- 
«  ditti. 

"  The  House  of  Commons  havf^  been  much  censured, 
"for  the  want  of  resolution  and  spirit  in  not  immedi- 
"  ately  committing,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  guards  at 
"  night,  their  own  member  to  the  Tower,  who  had,  by  so 
"  shameful  a  violation  of  their  privileges,  involved  them 
"  in  a  scene  of  such  unequalled  danger  and  disgrace.  It 
"  has  even  been  said  that  a  measure  of  such  vigor  might 
"  have  prevented  all  the  horrid  scenes  of  conflagration, 
"  plunder,  military  slaughter,  and  civil  execution  that 
"  afterwards  took  place ;  and  it  has  beeij  argued,  from 
"  the  passive  conduct  of  the  mob,  some  years  ago,  upon 
"  the  committal  of  the  Lord  Mayor  Crosby  and  of  Alder- 
"  man  Oliver  to  the  Tower,  that  it  would  not  have  been 
"  attended  with  any  ill  consequence. 


u 
<( 
il 
u 
u 
it 
ti 


it 
a 


('  '■ 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


259 


«  It  ia,  however,  to  be  remembered,  that  danger  is 
"  considered  in  a  very  different  manner  by  those  who  are 
"  entirely  out  of  its  reach,  and  even  by  the  same  persons 
"  under  its  im.me^ate  impression.  The  circumstances 
"  were  likewise  widely  and  essentially  different.  Reli- 
"  gious  mobs  are,  at  all  times,  infinitely  more  dangerous 
"  and  cruel  than  those  which  arise  on  civil  or  political 
"  occasions.  What  country  has  not  groaned  under  the 
"  outrages  and  horrors  of  fanaticism  ?  or  where  have 
"  they  ever  been  quelled  but  in  blood  ?  This  mob  was 
"  much  more  powerful  and  numerous,  as  well  as  danger- 
"  ous,  than  any  other  in  remembrance.  TM6  force  of  the 
"  associates  was,  on  that  day,  whole  and  entire,  which  it 
"  never  was  after.  The  intense  heat  of  the  weather, 
"  which  necessarily  increased  their  inebriation,  added  fire 
"to  their  religious  fury;  and  rendering  them  equally 
"  fearless  and  cruel,  no  bound  could  have  been  prescribed 
"  to  their  enormities. 

"  The  situation  of  the  lords  was  still  worse  than  that 
"  of  the  commons.  Besides  tha,t  the  malice  of  the  riot- 
"  ers  was  pointed  more  that  way,  they  were  not  under 
"  the  restraint  of  any  application  to  them  for  redress. 
"  The  appearance  of  the  lords,  who  had  passed  through 
"  their  hands,  every  thing  about  them  in  disorder,  and 
"  their  clothes  covered  with  dirt,  threw  a  grotesque  air 
"  of  ridicule  upon  the  whole,  which  seemed  to  heighten 
"  the  calamity.  A  proposal  was  made  to  carry  out  the 
"  mace ;  but  it  was  apprehended  that  peradventure  it 
,"  might  never  return.  In  a  word,  so  disgraceful  a  day 
"  was  never  beheld  before  by  a  British  PaJiament. 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  some  angry  debate 
"  arose,  the  lords  in  opposition  charging  the  ministers  with 
"  being  themselves  the  original  cause  of  all  the  mischiefs 
"  that  had  already  or  might  happen,  by  their  scandalous 
"  and  cowardly  concessions  to  the  rioters  in  Scotland, 
"  and,  at  the  same  time,  calling  them  loudly  to  account- 
"  for  not  having 'provided  for  the  present  evil,  of  which 
"  they  had  so  much  previous  notice,  by  having  the  civil 
"  power  in  readiness  for  its  prevention.  To  this  it  was 
"  answered,  by  a  noble  earl  in  high  office,  that  orders  had 


360 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


been  given,  on  ihe  preceding  day,  for  the  attendance 
of  the  magistrates ;  but  two  of  those  gentlemen,  who 
happened  to  be  in  the  way,  being  sent  for  and  exam- 
ined, declared  they  had  neither  heard  of  nor  received 
any  such  order. 

"  Before  the  rising  of  the  House  of  Commons,  several 
parties  of  the  rioters  had  filed  oft',  and  proceeded  to 
the  demolition  of  the  chapels  belonging  to  the  Sardin- 
ian  and  Bavarian  ministers.  The  commons  adjourned 
to  the  6th ;  but  the  lords  met  on  the  following  day, 
and  agreed  to  *  a  motion  for  an  address,*  made  by  the 
lord  president,  *  requesting  his  majesty  to  give  immedi- 
ate orders  for  prosecuting,  in  the  most  effectual  man- 
ner, the  authors,  abetters,  and  instruments  of  the  out- 
rages committed  the  preceding  day,  both  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  houses  of  Parliament,  and  upon  the  houses  and 
chapels  of  several  of  the  foreign  ministers.'  On  the 
6th,  above  two  hundred  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  had  the  courage,  notwithstanding  the  dread- 
ful conflagrations  and  mischiefs  of  the  two  preceding 
nights,  the  destruction  threatened  to  several  of  them- 
selves, in  their  persons  and  houses,  and  which  had  al- 
ready fallen  upon  the  house  of  Sir  George  Saville,  in 
Leicester  Fields,  to  make  their  way  through  the  vast 
crowds  which  filled  the  streets,  and  which  were  inter- 
laced and  surrounded  by  large  detachments  of  the  mil- 
itary on  foot  and  on  horseback.  They  found  West- 
minster Hall,  and  the  avenues  to  the  house,  lined  with 
soldiers;  upon  which  a  celebrated  member  observed 
in  his  speech,  bewailing  the  deplorable  situation  to 
which  Parliament  was  reduced,  that  they  had  a  blud- 
geoned mob  waiting  for  them  in  the  street,  and  a  mili- 
tary force,  with  fixed  bayonets,  at  their  doors,  in  order 
to  support  and  preserve  the  freedom  of  debate. 

"  They,  however,  passed  some  resolutions ;  one^eing 
an  assertion  of  their  own  privileges  ;  the  second,  for  a 
committee  to  inquire  into  the  lat<5  and  j^resent  outrages ; 
and  for  the  discovery  of  their  authors,  promoters,  and 
abetters ;  the  third,  for  a  prosecution  by  the  attorney 
general ;  and  the  fourth,  an  address  to  his  majesty  for 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


261 


« the  reimbursement  of  the  foreign  ministers  to  the 
"  amount  of  the  damages  they  had  sustained  by  the  riot- 
"  ers.  Another  resolution  was  moved  by  the  minister, 
*'  for  proceeding  immediately,  when  the  present  tumults 
«  were  subsided,  to  take  into  due  consideration  the  peti- 
"  tions  from  many  of  his  majesty's  Protestant  subjects. 
"  Intelligence  being  received  of  the  conflagrations  which 
*»  were  commenced  in  the  city,  it  threw  every  thing  into 
"  new  confusion,  and  a  hasty  adjournment  took  place. 

"  Some  of  the  lords  likewise  met ;  but  the  impropriety 
"  of  their  proceeding  upon  any  public  business  in  the 
«  present  tumult,  and  surrounded  by  a  military  force,  be- 
"  ing  taken  iiito  consideration,  and  a  account  arriving, 
"  at  the  same  time,  that  the  first  lord  of  the  admiralty, 
"  in  his  way  to  the  house,  had  been  set  upon,  wounded, 
"  and  his  life  only  critically  saved  by  the  military,  they 
"  adjourned  to  the  19th. 

"  Never  did  the  metropolis,  in  any  known  age,  exhibit 
"  such  a  dreadful  spectacle  of  calamity  and  horror,  or 
"  experience  such  real  danger,  terror,  and  distress,  as  on 
"  the  following  day  and  night.  It  is  said  that  it  was 
"  beheld  blazing  in  thirty-six  different  parts,  from  one 
"  spot.  Some  of  these  conflagrations  were  of  such  a 
"  magnitude  as  •  to  be  truly  tremendous.  Of  these,  the 
"jail  of  Newgate,  the  King's  Bench  prison,  the  new 
"  Bridewell  in  St.  George's  Fields,  the  Fleet  prison,  and 
"  the  houses  and  great  distilleries  of  Mr.  Langdale  in 
"  Holborn,  where  the  vast  quantity  of  spirituous  liquors 
"  increased  the  violence  of  the  flames  to  a  degree  of 
"  which  no  adequate  conception  can  be  formed,  presented 
"  spectacles  of  the  most  dreadful  nature.  The  houses 
"  of  most  of  the  Roman  Catholics  were  marked,  and 
"  many  destroyed  or  burned,  as  well  as  those  of  the  few 
"  magistrates  who  showed  any  activity  in  repressing 
"  those  tumults.  The  outrages  grew  more  violent  and 
"  general  after  the  breaMng  open  of  the  prisons. 

"  The  attacks  made  that  day  upon  the  Bank  roused 
"  the  whole  activity  of  the  government.  Great  bodies 
*'  of  forces  had,  for  some  time,  been  collecting  from  all 
"  parts.     They  were  at  length  employed,  and  brought  on 


i| 


\ 


k'   :l 


1  ■-  '  ■; 


263 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


*^  the  catastrophe  of  that  melancholy  night  which  fol- 
'<  lowed.  Strong  detachments  of  troops  being  sent  into 
"  the  city,  and  the  attempts  on  the  Bank  and  other ' 
^'  places  renewed,  a  carnage  then  inevitably  ensued,  in 
"  which  a  great  number  of  lives  were  lost.  Nothing 
"  could  be  more  dismal  than  that  night.  Those  who 
"  were  on  the  spot,  or  in  the  vicinity,  say  that  the  present 
"  darkness,  the  gleam  of  the  distant  fires,  the  dreadful 
"  shouts  in  different  quarters,  the  groaps  of  the  dying,  and 
"  the  heavy,  regular,  platoon  firing  of  the  soldiers,  formed 
"  all  together  a  scene  so  terrific  and  tremendous  as  no 
"  description,  or  even  imagination,  could  nngsibly  reach. 

"  The  melrdpolis  presented  on  the  foL  Ang  day,  in 
"  many  places,  the  image  of  a  city  recently  stormed  and 
"  sacked ;  all  business  at  an  end,  houses  and  shops  shut 
"  up ;  the  Royal  Exchange,  public  buildings,  and  streets 
"  possessed  and  occupied  by  the  troops ;  smoking  and 
"  burning  ruins;  with  a  dreadful  void  and  silence,  in 
"  scenes  of  the  greatest  hurry,  noise,  and  business. 

"  The  House  of  Commons  met  on  the  following  day ; 
"  but,  although  the  rioters  were  entirely  quelled,  it  was 
"  immediately  noticed  that  the  city  of  Westminster  was 
"  under  martial  law ;  and  they  accordingly  adjourned  to 
"  the  19th.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  «ame  day,  Lord 
"  George  Gordon  was  taken  into  custody,  at  his  house 
"  in  Welbeck  Street,  and  conveyed  to  the  Horse  Guards ; 
"  and,  after  a  long  examination  before  several  lords  of 
"  the  privy  council,  he  was,  between  nine  and  ten  in  the 
"  evening,  conducted  (under  the  strongest  guard  that 
"  ever  was  known  to  attend  any  state  prisoner)  to  the 
«  Tower."  * 

These  firuits  of  the  Protestant  associations  threw  their 
cause,  for  a  season,  into  such  bad  odor,  that  the  discus- 
sion of  Catholic  principles  was  suspended.  In  1786,  it 
was  revived  by  Woodward,  Protestant  Bishop  of  Cloyne, 
in  an  Address  to  the  Nobility  and  Gentry  of  the  Prot- 
estant  Church,  and  another  work,   called  the   Present 

■'■■■  .  .Ilf— — .     ■— -I  -  ^■  I  i  .  I  .1  ■■■^      .l„,^  '- 

*  Annual  Register  for  1780.    If  not  written  by  Burke,  this  account  is 
^  close,  inutation  of  his  style. 


.   .   /■ 


PnOTESTANJ  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


263 


State  of  the  Church  in  Ireland.  These  appeals  to  half- 
exhausted  prejudices  were  based  upon  four  documents  : 
L  The  oath  taken  by  Catholic  bishops  at  tbeir  ordina- 
tion. II.  A  letter  of  Monsignor  Ghilini,  Nuncio  at 
Brussels,  to  the  Irish  bishops,  written  in  1768.  IIL  The 
approbatory  comments  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Burke,  Bishop 
of  Ossory,  in  publishing  that  letter  in  his  Hibernia  Do- 
minicana.  IV.  The  agrarian  disturbances.  Dr.  Burke's 
ultramontane  views  were  not  general  among  the  Irish 
bishops  of  his  day.  In  1775,  the  Munater  prelates,  in  a 
synod  at  Thurles,  had  condemned  his  book,  and  on  the 
appearance  of  Dr.  Woodward's  pamphlets.  Dr.  Butler, 
Archbishop  of  Cashel,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Kenmare,  (dat- 
ed "  Thurles,  December  27,  1786,")  emphatically  repeat- 
ed their  previous  sentence.  Father  O'Leary  was  again 
induced  to  appear  as  a  controvertist,  and  his  letters  to 
Dr.  Woodward  equalled  in  point  his  letters  to  Wesley. 
His  contrast  of  the  Protestant  bishops*  oath  with  the 
Catholic,  his  comments  on  the  Nuncio's  letter,  his 
proofs  of  the  true  origin  of  the  agrarian  outrages,  and 
of  the  efforts  of  the  Catholic  prelates  to  suppress  them, 
did  great  good  in  their  day.  His  invariable  -  good 
humor  and  good  manners  lent  a  charm  to  his  style  alto- 
gether new  in  such  discussions.*  This  notable  contro- 
versy materially  advanced  the  Catholic  cause.  O'Leary 
was  complimented  by  Grattan,  in  his  place  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  elected  a  member  of  the  club  of  St.  Patrick, 
over  which  Curran  presided :  when  he  entered  the  reform 
convention,  some  years  later,  the  volunteers  presented 
arms.  For  his  services  in  quelling  the  agrarian  insurrec- 
tion, the  king  allowed  him  a  pension,  coupled  with  the 
condition  that  he  should  reside  in  London.  There,  la- 
boring among  his  poor  countrymen,  and  waited  upon  by 
the  literati  and  leaders  of  parties,  he  lived  for  several 
years,  writing  an  occasional  pamphlet,   and  collecting 


:l  m 


mm 


this  account  is 


*  *'  Some  years  after,  when  a  mutual  friend  invited  him  (Wesley)  to 
meet  his  ants^onist,  Father  O'Leary,  it  was  gratifying  to  bou  parties  to 
meet  upon  terms  of  courtesy  and  mutual  good  -will."  —  Southey,  .L(/i)  of 


(0 


^'f^. 


V  <  »t  • 


264 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


^r ! 


materials  for  a  history  of  Ireland.  His  tomb  is  in  St 
Patrick's  Church,  Soho  Square. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  had  been  written,  the  cause 
of  the  Catholics,  in  the  third  decade  of  George  III.,  wag 
at  a  low  ebb.  The  secession  of  the  sixty-eight  was  a  prac- 
tical loas ;  weak  as  they  were,  individually,  the  union  of 
so  many  hereditary  Catholic  names  had  been  of  very 
great  service  to  the  committee.  So  long  as  they  stood 
aloof,  the  committee  could  not  venture  to  speak  for  all 
the  Catholics ;  it  could  only  speak  for  a  part,  though 
that  part  was  nine  tenths  of  the  whole :  this  gave  a 
doubtful  and  hesitating  appearance,  in  those  years,  to  all 
their  proceedings.  So  low  was  their  political  influence, 
in  1791,  that  they  could  not  get  a  single  member  of  Par- 
liament to.piesent  their  annual  petition.  When,  at  last, 
it  was  presented,  it  was  laid  on  the  table  for  threo  days, 
and  then  literally  kicked  out*  To  their  further  em- 
barrassment, McKenna  and  some  others  formed  *'  the 
Catholic  Society,"  with  the  nominal  purpose  of  spread- 
ing a  know^ledge  of  Catholic  principles,  through  the 
press,  but,  covertly,  to,  raise  up  a  rival  organization, 
undei  the  control  of  the  seceders.  At  this  period  John 
Keogh's  talents  for  negotiation  and  diplomacy  saved 
the  Catholic  body  from  another  term  of  anarchical  imbe- 
cility. 

A  deputation  of  twelve,  having  waited  on  the  Irish 
secretary,  with  a  list  of  the  existing  penal  laws,  found 
no  intention,  at  the  castle,  of  further  concessions.  They 
were  "dismissed  without  an  answer."  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  committee  met  at  Allen's  Court.  "It 
was  their  determination,"  says  Keogh,  "  to  give  up  the 
cause  as  desperate,  lest  a  perseverance  in  what  they 
considered  an  idle  pursuit  might  riot  only  prove  ineffect- 
ual, but  draw  down  a  train  of  persecution  on  the  body." 
Keogh  endeavored  to  rally  them  ;  proposed  a  delegation 
to  London,  to  be  sent  at  the  expense  of  the  committee; 


*  Mr.  O'NeU,  member  of  Parliament  for  Antrim,  undertook  it,  but 
afterwardfl  declined :  it  was  subsequently  presented  late  in  the  sessicm. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


265 


committee; 


ofTeredi  at  last,  to  go  at  his  o\vn  charge,  if  they  author- 
ized him.  This  proposal  was  accepted,  and  Keogh 
went  "  I  arrived  in  London,"  he  adds,  "  without  any 
introduction  from  this  country,  without  any  support, 
any  assistance,  any  instructions."  *  He  remained  three 
months,  converted  Mr.  Dundas,  brought  back  with  him 
the  son  of  Burke  as  secretary,  and  a  promise  of  four 
concessions :  I.  The  magistracy.  II.  The  grand  juries. 
III.  The  sheriffs  of  counties.  IV.  The  bar.  Upon  his 
return,  the  fullest  meeting  that  had  assembled  since  the 
Kenmare  secession  came  together  to  hear  his  report, 
and  take  action  accordingly. 


•  Keogh's  account  of  his  visit  to  London.  Wyse's  History  of  the 
Catholic  Association,  vol.  ii.  Appendix,  No.  V.  Charles  Butler  tells  a 
striking  anecdote  of  Keogh's  interview  with  Mr.  Dundas.  '<  On  one  oc- 
casion, he  was  introduced  to  the  late  Mr.  Dundas,  afterwards  Lord  Mel- 
ville. That  eminent  statesman  was  surrounded  by  several  persons  of 
distinction,  and  received  the  delegates  with  great  good  humor,  but 
some  state ;  a  long  conference  ensued,  and  the  result  was  not  favorable  to 
the  mission  of  Mr.  Keogh.  After  a  short  silence,  Mr.  Keogh  advanced 
toward?  Mr.  Dundas  ^ith  great  respect,  and,  with  a  very  obsequious, 
but  very  solemn  look,  mentioned  to  him  that  '  there  was  one  thing 
\rhich  it  was  essential  for  him  to  know,  but  of  which  he  had  not 
the  slightest  conception.'  He  remarked,  '"that  it  was  very  extraordinary 
that  a  person  of  Mr.  Dundas's  high  situation,  and  one  of  his  own  hum- 
ble lot,  (h"  was  a  tradesman  in  Dublin,)  should  be  in  the  same  room ; 
yet,  since  ic  had  so  happened,  and  probably  would  not  happen  again,  he 
wished  to  avail  himself'  of  the.opportunity  of  making  the  important  dis- 
closure, but  could  not  think  of  doing,  it  without  Mr.  Dundas's  express 
permission,  and  his  promise  not  to  be  offended.'  Mr.  Dundas  gave  him 
this  permission  and  promise ;  still  Mr.  Keogh  was  all  humility  and  apol- 
ogy, and  Mr.  Dundas  all  condescension.  After  these  had  continued  for 
some  timef  and  the  expectation  of  every  person  present  was  wound  up 
to  its  highest  pitch,  Mr.  Keogh  approached  Mi .  Dundas  in  a  very  hum- 
ble attitude,  and  said,  •  Since  you  give  me  this  permission,  and  your 
deliberate  promise  not  to  be  offended,  I  beg  leave  to  repeat,  that  there 
Mone  things  which  you  ought  to  know,  but  which  you  don't  aiispect* 
you,  Mr.  Dundas,  know  nothing  of  Ireland' 

"  Mr.  Dundas,  as  may  be  supposed,-  was  greatly  surprised ;  but  with 
perfect  good  humor  told  Mr.  Keogh*  that  he  believed  this  was  not  the 
case :  it  was  true  that  he  never  had  been  in  Ireland,  but  he  had  con- 
versed with  many  Irishmen.  •  I  have  drunk,'  he  said,  '  many  a  good 
bottle  of  wine  with  Lord  Hillsborough,  Lord  Clare,  and  the  Beresfords 
'Yes,  sir,'  said  Mr.  Keogh,  *I  believe  you  have;  and  that  you  djank 
many  a  good  bottle  of  wine  with  them  before  you  went  to  war  with 
America. ' " 

23 


'  i 


li^S 

|H 

HI 

1 

R 

"Pi- ,  u*^ 

„..,. 

266 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


Bi*i.i 


■ffiiiii 


At  this  meeting,  the  promises  of  the  Eng!9-':  govern* 
ment  were  contrasted  with  the  dogged  nostii;  ;  oi  the 
castle.  The  necessity  of  a  stronger  organization,  to 
overcome  the  one  and  hasten  the  other,  was  felt  by  ali : 
it  was  then  that  they  adopted  a  plan,  proposed  by  Myles 
Keon,  of  Keonbrook,  in  Leitrim,  to  turn  the  committee 
into  a  convention.  By  this  plan,  the  Catholics  in  each 
county  and  borough,  were  called  on  to  choose,  in  a 
private  manner,  certain  electors,  who  were  to  elect  two 
or  more  delegates,  to  represent  the  town  or  county  in 
the  general  meeting  at  Dublin,  on  the  3d  day  of 
December  following.  A  circular,  signed  by  Edward 
Byrne,  chairman,  and  Richard  McCormick,  secretary, 
explaining  the  plan  and  the  mode  of  election,  was  issued 
on  the  14th  of  January,  and  the  Catholics  every  where 
prepared  to  obey  it 

The  corporations  of  Dublin  and  other  citi^,  the 
grand  juries  of  Derry,  Donegal,  Leitrim,  Roscommon, 
Limerick,  Cork,  and  other  counties,  at  once  pronounced 
most  strongly  against  the  proposed  convention.  They 
declared  it  ''  unconstitutional,"  "  alarming,'*  *<  most  dan- 
gerous ; "  they  said  it  was  a  copy  of  the  National  As- 
sembly of  France  ;  they  declared  that  they  would  "  resist 
it  to  the  utiiiost  of  their  power ; "  they  pledged  "  their 
lives  and  fortunes"  to  suppress  it.  The  only  answer 
of  the  Catholics  was  the  legal  opinion  of  Butler  and 
Burton,  two  eminent  lawyers,  Protestants  and  king's 
councillors,  that  the  measure  was  entirely  legal.  They 
proceeded  with  their  selection  of  delegates,  and  at  the 
appointed  day  the  convention  met.  From  the  place  of 
meeting,  this  convention  was  popularly  called  "the 
Back  Lane  Parliament." 

After  organizing,  the  convention  proceeded  (Mr. 
Byrne  in  the  chair)  to  declare  itself  the  only  body  com- 
petent to  speak  for  the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  They  next 
discussed  the  substance  of  the  proposed  petition  to  the 
king.  The  debate  on  this  subject  is  in  itself  so  inter- 
esting, and  the  account  of  it  by  Tone  so  graphic,  that 
we  insert  here  his  report. 

"  The  general  committee  next  resolved,  that  a  petition 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


287 


I*  be  prepared  to  his  majenty,  stating  the  grievances  of 
<*  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  and  praying  relief,  and  the 
**  members  of  the  8ub>committee  were  ordered  to  bring 
**\n  the  same  forthwith,  which  being  done,  and  the 
^  petition  read  in  the  usual  forms,  it  was  again  read, 
^  paragraph  by  paragraph,  each  passing  unanimously, 
"  until  the  last  A  spirited  and  intelligent  member, 
« (Luke  Teeling,  Esq.,  of  Lisburn,  county  Antriin,J  who 
represented  a  great  northern  county,  then  rose  and  said, 
^that  he  must  object  to' this  paragraph,  on  the  ground 
of  its  being  limited  in  its  demand.  His  instructions 
from  his  constituents  were  to  require  nothing  short  of 
total  emancipation ;  and  it  was  not  consistent  with  the 
dignity  of  this  meeting,  and  much  less  of  the  great  body 
whom  it  represented,  to  sanction,  by  any  thing  which 
could  be  construed  into  acquiescence  on  their  part, 
one  fragment  of  that  unjust  and  abominable  system, 
the  penal  code.  It  lay  with  the  paternal  wisdom  of 
the  sovereign  to  ascertain  what  he  thought  fit  to  be 
granted,  but  it  was  the  duty  of  this  meeting  to  put 
him  fully  and  unequivocally  in  possession  of  the  wants 
and  wishes  of  his  people.'  He  therefore  moved,  *  that, 
in  place  of  the  paragraph  then  read,  one  should  be  in- 
serted, praying  that  the  Catholics  might  be  restored  to 
the  equal  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  the  constitu- 
tion.' 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  describe  the  effect  which  that  speech 
had  on  the  assembly.  It  was  received  with  the  most 
extravagant  applause.  A  member  of  great  respect- 
ability, and  who  had  ever  been  remarked  for  a  cautious 
"and  prudent  system  in  his  public  conduct,  (D.  T. 
"  O'Brien,  Esq.,  of  Cork,)  rose  to  declare  his  entire  and 
"  hearty  concurrence  in  the  spirit  of  the  motion.  *  Let 
"  us  not,'  said  he, '  deceive  our  sovereign  and  our  constit- 
"  uents,nor  approach  the  throne  with  a  suppression  of 
"  the  truth.  Now  is  our  time  to  speak.  The  whole 
"  Catholic  people  are  not  to  be  called  forth  to  acquiesce 
"  in  the  demand  of  partial  relief.'  The  question  would 
"  now  have  been  carried  by  acclamation,  but  for  the  in- 
^  terposition  of  a  member,  to  whose  opinion,  from  his 


*rf'-'; 


rs! 


m 

mm 

m 


■1  !W    -f 


268 


ATTEMl»TS   TO    ESTABLISH   THE 


"  past  services  and  the  active  part  he  had  ever  taken, 
"  the  committee  were  disposed  to  pay  every  respect, 
"  (J.  Keogh.)  He  said,  'that  he  entirely  agreed  with 
"  the  spirit  of  the  motion,  and  he  was  satisfied  that  they 
"  had  but  to  ask  and  they  should  receive.  But  the 
"  meeting  Lad  already  despatched  a  great  deal  of  busi- 
"  ness,  the  hour  was  now  late,  and  the  question  was  of 
"  the  very  last  importance.'  '  Have  ybu,'  said  the  speak- 
"  er,  '  considered  the  magnitude  of  your  demand  and  the 
"  power  of  your  enemies  ?  Have  you  considered  the  dis- 
"  grace  and  the  consequences  of  a  refusal,  and  are  you 
"  prepared  to  support  your  claim  I '  The  whole  assem- 
"  bly  rose,  as  one  man,  and,  raising  their  right  hands, 
"  answered,  '  We  are.'  It  was  a  sublime  spectacle. 
"  *  Then,'  continued  he,  '  I  honor  and  rejoice  in  a  spirit 
"  which  must  render  your  success  infallible ;  but  let  it 
"  not  be  said  that  you  took  up  a  resolution  of  this  infi- 
"  nite  magnitude  in  a  fit  of  enthusiasm.  Let  us  agree 
"  to  retire.  We  meet  '^again  to-morrow.  We  will  con- 
"  sider  this  question  in  the  mean  time,  and,  whatever  be 
"  the  determination  of  the  morning,  it  will  not  be  ac- 
"  cused  of  want  of  temperance  or  consideration.'  This 
"  argument  prevailed,  and  the  meeting  adjourned. 

"  But  the  business  of  the  day  was,  perhaps,  not  less 
"  effectually  promoted  by  the  convivial  parties  which 
"  followed  than  by  the  serious  debates  which  occupied 
"  the  sitting  of  the  committee.  Those  members  resident 
"  in  Dublin,  whom  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  enemies 
"  to  Catholic  emancipation  to  grossly  malign  and  mis- 
"  represent  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  kingdom,  had 
"  taken  care  to  offer  the  rites  of  hospitality  to  the  dele- 
"  gates  from  the  country.  And,  in  unreserved  commu- 
"  cation,  both  parties  compared  their  common  griev- 
"  ances,  and  mutually  entered  into  each  other's  senti- 
"  ments.  All  distrust  was  banished  at  once,  and  a 
"  comparison  of  ideas  satisfied  them  that  their  interests 
"  were  one  and  the  same,  and  that  the  only  enemy  to  be 
"  dreaded  was  disunion  among  themselves.  The  dele- 
"  gate  from  Antrim,  who  sat  beside  the  delegate  from 
"Kerry,  at  the  board  of   their  brother  in   the  ^capital, 


,t  - . 


h'v"'' 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


269 


«  needed  but  little  argument  to  convince  him  that,  aa 
"  the  old  maxim,  *  Divide  and  conquer,*  had  been  the 
"  uniform  rule  of  conduct  with  their  common  enefhies, 
"  so  mutual  confidence  and  union  among  themselves 
«  were  the  infallible  presage  and  most  certain  means  of 
«  securing  their  approaching  emancipation.  The  attri- 
"  tion  of  parties,  thus  collected  from  every  district  of  the 
"  kingdom,  demolished  in  one  evening  the  barriers  of 
"  prejudice,  which  art  and  industry,  and  the  monopoliz- 
"  ing  spirit  of  corruption,  had,  by  falsehood  and  soothing, 
"  by  misrepresentation  and  menaces,  been  laboring  for 
<'  years,  and  but  too  successfully,  to  establish  between 
"  them. 

"  In  this  spirit  the  assembly  met  on  the  next  day. 
«  The  business  was  opened  by  the  same  member  (Lm 
"  Teeling)  who  had  introduced  the  amendment.  He 
"  stated  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Catholics  not  to 
"  wrong  themselves  by  asking  less  than  complete  eman- 
"  cipation ;  that  it  was  also  the  idea  of  their  friends  in 
"  the  province  from  whence  he  came,  and  this  coinci- 
"  dence  of  sentiments  would  establish  that  union,  from 
"  which  the  Catholic  cause  had  already  derived  such 
"  essential  benefit,  and  which  had  been  found  so  formi- 
"  dable  to  their  enemies.  Something  had  been  insinuat- 
"  ed  about  danger ;  he  saw  none :  violence  was  not  the 
"  interest  nor  the  wish  of  the  meeting.  '  But,'  contin- 
"  ued  he,  '  we  have  been  asked  what 'we  will  do  in  case 
"  of  a  refusal.  I  will  not,  when  I  look  around  me,  sup- 
"  pose  a  refusal.  But,  if  such  an  event  should  take 
"  place,  t)ur  duty  is  obvious.  We  are  to  tell  our  constit- 
"  uents  ;  and  they,  not  we,  are  to  determine.  We  will 
"  take  the  sense  of  the  whole  people,  and  see  what  thep 
"  will  have  done.'  Similar  sentiments  were  avowed  by 
"  every  member  who  follo\ved  him ;  and,  on  the  question 
"  being  put,  the  amendment,  praying  for  complete  resti- 
"  tution  of  the  rights  of  the  Catholics,  was  carried  by 
"  the  unanimous  acclamation  of  the  whole  assembly. 

"  It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  perfect  secrecy  could 
"  be  preserved  in  so  numerous  a  meeting,  or  that  the  in- 
"  dustry  of  the  enemies  to  Catholic  freedom  should  not 
23* 


m' 


I'! 


ii 


IS   f 

«  1 1 


270 


ATTEMPTS   TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


**  be  exerted  in  so  Important  a  crisis,  and  on  so  material 
"  a  question  as  that  which  was  now  determined  with 
*^  such  unanimity;  On  the  morning  of  the  day  it  was 
"  whispered,  that,  if  the  prayer  for  complete  emancipa- 
"  tion  was  persisted  in,  a  large  number  of  the  most 
"  respectable  country  delegates  would  instantly  quit  the 
"  meeting,/ and  publish  their  dissent.  Whether  such  a 
"  measure  was  ever  seriously  intended  or  not  is  not  accu- 
"  rately  known.  Certainly,  had  it  been  carried  into 
"  execution,  a  secession  of  so  formidable  a  nature  would 
"  have  extremely  embarrassed,  if  not  totally  destroyed,  a 
'^  system  which  had  cost  so  much  time  and  labor  to 
"  bring  to  its  present  state.  Be  that  as  it  may,  such  was 
**  the  force  of  virtuous  example,  so  powerful  the  effect 
"  of  public  spirit  in  an  assembly  uncontaminated  with 
"  places  or  pensions,  and  freely  chosen  by  the  people, 
"  that  not  a  murmur  of  dissent  was  heard ;  and  a  day 
"  which  opened  with  circumstances  of  considerable 
"  doubt  and  anxiety  terminated  in  the  unanimous  adop- 
"  tion  of  the  great  principle  which,  whilst  it  asserted, 
"  secured  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics. 

"  The  prayer  of  the  petition  having  been  thus  agreed 
"  upon,  it  was  proposed  (by  Mr.  Fitzgerald)  that  the 
"  signatures  of  the  delegates  should  not  be  affixed  until 
"  the  mode  of  transmission  should  be  first  determined. 
"  The  object  of  this  motion  was,  obviously,  to  embar- 
"  rass,  and,  if  possible,  to  prevent,  a  meaenre  which, 
"  from  the  spirit  of  the  meeting,  it  was  more  than  sus- 
"  pected  would  be  tried.  Apprehensions  were  entertained 
"  that  the  usual  form  in  presenting  petitions  would  be 
"  broken  through,  and  that,  by  a  direct  application  to 
"  the  throne,  a  very  pointed  mark  of  disapprobation 
"  would  be  attached  on  the  government  of  this  country. 
"  If  to  prevent  administration  from  being  exposed  to 
"  such  an  insult  was  the  object  of  the  motion,  it  failed 
"  completely.  The  committee  decreed,  that  the  signing 
"  the  petition  should  precede  all  debate  as  to  the  mode 
"  of  transmission.  And,  not  only  so,  but  it  was  unani- 
"  mously  resolved,  (on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Edward 
"  Sweetman,  of   Wexford,)  that  every  delegate  should 


\     "" 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


271 


<*  instantly  pledge  himself  to  support,  with  his  hand  and 
«  signature,  the  sense  of  the  majority  —  an  engagement 
"  which  was  immediately- and  solemnly  taken  by  the 
"  whole  assembly. 

"  The  petition  having  been  thus  agreed  upon  and 
'^  signed,  the  important  question  arose  as  to  the  mode 
"  of  presenting  it  to  his  majesty.  The  usual  method 
"  had  been  to  deliver  all  former  addresses  to  the  lord 
<'  lieutenant,  who  transmitted  them  to  the  king ;  and, 
"  certainly,  to  break  through  a  custom  invariably  con- 
"  tinued  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  general 
"  committee,  was  marking,  in  the  most  decided  manner, 
"that  the  Catholics  had  lost  all  confidence  in  the  ad- 
"  ministration  of  this  country.  But,  strong  as  this 
"  measure  was,  it  was  now  to  be  tried.  The  petition 
"  having  been  read  for  the  last  time,  a  spirited  young 
"^member,  (Christopher  Dillon  Bellew,  Esq.,  of  Gal  way,) 
"  whose  property  gave  him  much,  and  his  talents  and 
"  virtues  still  more,  influence  in  the  assembly,  and  who 
"represented  a  county  perhaps  the  first  in  Ireland  for 
"  Catholic  property  and  independence,  rose,  and  moved, 
"  without  preface,  that  the  petition  should  be  sent  to 
"  the  foot  of  the  throne,  by  a  deputation  to  be  chosen 
"from  the  general  committee.  He  was  seconded  by  a 
"  delegate  from  a.  county  adjacent  to  his  own,  (J.  J. 
"  McDonnell,  of  Mayo.) 

"  A  blow  of  this. nature,  striking  so  directly  at  the 
"  character,  and  almost  at  the  existence,  M.  the  admin- 
"  istration,  could  scarcely  be  let  to  pass  \v  i  chout  some 
"  effort  on  their  part  to  prevent  it.  As  the  attack  had 
"  been  foreseen,  some  kind  of  a  negotiation  had  been 
"  attempted  with  individuals,  who  were  given  to  uiider- 
"  stand,  that,  if  the  petition  was  sent  through  the  usual 
"  channel,  administration  would  instantly  despatch  it 
"  by  express,  and  back  it  with  the  strongest  recqmmen- 
"  dations.  The  negotiation  was  not  yet  concluded  when 
"  the  dreaded  motion  was  made,  and,  with  some  dif- 
"  ficulty,  the  assembly  agreed  to  wait  half  an  hour  for 
"  the  result  of  one  more  interview.  There  can  hardly 
"  be  imagined  a  revolution  more  curious  and  unexpected 


272 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


"  than  that  which  was  occurring  in  the  general  com- 
"  mittee.  The  very  men  who,  a^few  months  before, 
"  could  not  obtain  an  answer  at  the  castle,  sat  with 
"  their  watches  in  their  hands,  minuting  that  govern- 
"  ment  which  had  repelled  them  with  disdain.  At 
"  length  the  result  of  the  interview  was  made  known, 
"  and  it  appeared  that  the  parties  had  either  mistaken 
"  each  other,  or  their  powers,  or  the  intentions  of  the 
"  administration,  for  it  was  stated  by  the  member  (Mr. 
"  Keogh)  who  reported  it,  that  what  had  been  supposed 
"  to  be  offered  was  merely  a  conversation  between  a 
"  very  respectable  ^individual  and  himself,  but  be  had 
"  nothing  to  communicate  from  any  authority.  This, 
"  which  the  majority  of  the  assembly  considered,  whether 
"  justly  or  not,  as  an  instance  of  duplicity  in  adminis- 
"  tration,  and  as  trifling  with  their  own  time  and  dig- 
"  nity,  determined  them  to  stigmatize,  as  far  as  iiu  them 
"  lay,  a  government  which  they  now  looked  upon  as 
"  having  added  insult  to  injury.  *  Will  you,'  cried  the 
"  orator,  (Keogh,)  'trust  your  petition  with  such  men?' 
"  The  assembly  answered  with  a  unanimous,  repeated, 
"  and  indignant  negative  — '  No  I '  « 

"  Yet  still  a  few  individuals  were  found  who  started 
"  at  the  idea  of  fixing  so  gross  an  insult  on  administra- 
«  tion,  (Messrs.  McKenha,  Fitzgerald,,  D.  T.  O'Brien.)  It 
"  was  suggested,  rather  than  argued,  th- .t  it  was  not  per- 
"  haps  respectful,  even  to  majesty  itself,  to  pass  over  with 
"  such  marked  contempt  his  representative  in  Ireland, 
"  and  that  the  usual  mode  was  the  most  constitutional, 
"  or,  at  least,  the  most  conciliatory.  But  the  spirit  of 
"  the  meeting  was  now  above  stooping  to  conciliate  the 
"  favor  of  those  whom  they  neither  respected  nor  feared. 
"  The  member  who  moved  the  question  (Mr.  C.  Bellew) 
^'  again  rose  to  support  it.  He  said  he  did  not  ground 
"  his  motion  merely  on  the  insults  which  the  Catholics, 
"  through  their  delegates,  had  so  often  i*eceived,  but  on 
"  this,  that  he  had  no  confidence  in  men  who  kept  no 
"  faith  with  Catholics,  and  the  attempt  'of  the  present 
"  day  had  satisfied  his  mind.  Faith  had  been  broken, 
<'  even  with  those  gentlemen  (Lord  Kenmare  and  the 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


273 


«  sixty-eight)  who,  in  support  of  administration,  had  se- 
«  ceded  from  their  own  body.  The  engagement  entered 
"  into  with  them  had  been  mutilated  and  curtailed.  *  *  It 
"  has  been  said,'  continued  he,  *  my  plan  is  disreapect- 
<<  ful  to  administration.  I  answer,  it  is  intended  to  be  so. 
«  It  is  time  for  us  to  speak  out  likfe  men.  We  will  not, 
*'  like  African  slaves,  petition  our  taskmasters.  Our 
«  soirereign  will  never  conf^ider  it  disrespectful,  that  we 
*<  lay  before  his  throne  the  dutiful  and  humble  petition 
"  of  three  millions  of  loyal  and  suffering  subjects.  For 
*<  my  part,  I  know  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  my  county. 
"  I  wish  my  constituents  may  kno>^  my  conduct ;  and 
*'  the  measure  which  I  have  now  proposed,  I  am  ready 
<'  to  justify  in  any  way.'  T^hese  were  strong  expressions ; 
*'  they  were  followed  by  others  no  less  energetic.  '  We 
*'  have  not  ?ome  thus  far,'  said  a  delegate  from  the  west 
"  of  Ireland,  (Mr.  McDermott,  of  Sligo,)  *  to  stop  short  in 
*'  our  career.  Gentlemen  tell  us  of  the  wounded  pride 
*'  of  the  administration.  I  believe  it  will  be  wounded, 
<'  but  I  care  not;  I  consider  only  the  pride  of  the  Catho- 
*'  lies  of  Ireland.'  The  last  attempt  was  now  made  to 
*'  postpone  the  further  consideration  of  the  question  until 
"  the  next  day ;  but  this  was  imm«diateiy  and  powerfully 
^'  resisted.  *  We  will  stay  all  night,  if  necessary,'  cried  a 
■"  spirited  young  member,  (P.  Russell,  of  Louth,)  '  but  this 
**  question  must  be  decided  beiore  we  part.  If  it  go 
*'  abroad  that  you  waver,  you  are  undone.'  *  Let  us 
*'  mark,'  cried  another,  (J.  Edw,  D-.-^^ereux,  Esq.,  of  Wex- 
*'  ford,)  *  i^'Mr  abhorrence  of  the  measures  of  our  enemies, 
"  for  they  are  th«  enemies  of  Ireland.  The  present  ad- 
<'  ministration  has  not  the  confidence  of  the  people.^  The 
"  whole  assembly  confirmed  his  words  by  a  general  ex- 
"  clamation,  'No!  No  I'  *  Our  allegiance  and  attach- 
*'  ment  are  to  King,  Lords,  and  Ck)mmons,  not  to  a  bad 
*'  ministry,  who  have  calumniated  and  reviled  us  through 
^'  the  kingdom.'  His  assertions  were  ratified  by  repeated 
*,'  and  universal  plaudits. 

"  The  question  on  the  original  motion  was  at  length 
*'  unanimously  decided  in  the  affirmative.  By  passing 
*^  over  the  ad^oiaisiraitiaB  of  tbeii  country,  in  a  studied 


"'ii. 


m 


IJ 


■^'    *    •      a  mm 


♦c: 


274 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


*<  and  deliberate  manner,  and  on  solemn  debate,  the 
,"  general  committee  published  to  all  the  world,  that  his 
"  majesty's  ministers  in  Ireland  had  so  far  lost  the  con- 
"  fidence  of  no  less  than  three  millions  of  his  subjects, 
"  that  they  were  not  even  to  be  intrusted  with  the  de- 
"  livery  of  their  petition.  A  stigma  more  severe  it  has 
"  not  been  the  fortune  of  many  administrations  to  receive. 
"  The  general  committee  (December  7)  proceeded  to 
"  choose,  by  ballot,  five  of  their  body,  who  should  present 
"  their  petition  to  his  majesty  in  person ;  and  the  gentle- 
"  men  appointed  were  Edward  Byrne,  John  Keogh, 
"  Christopher  Dillon  Bellew,  Jariies  Edward  Devereux, 
"  and  Sir  Thomas  French.  The  only  instruction  they 
"  received  was  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  spirit  of  the  pe- 
"  tition,  and  to  admit  nothing  derogatory  to  the  union, 
"  which  is  the  strength  of  Ireland.  And  this  instruction, 
"  for  greater  solemnity,  was  delivered  to  them,  engrossed 
"  on  vellum,  signed  by  the  chairman,  and  countersigned 
"  by  the  secretary  of  the  :.aeeting." 

These  delegates,  accompanied  by  the  secretary,  re- 
solved to  go  by  Belfast  and  Scotland  to  London,  "  there 
being  no  packet  boat  ready  "  at  Dublin,  "  and  the  wind 
being  contrary."  This  accident  did  them  no  harm. 
Belfast  was  then  the  focus  of  the  United  Irishmen,  and 
of  the  liberality  of  the  north.  The  delegates  were  pub- 
licly received ;  their  expenses  were  paid  by  the  citizens, 
and  their  carriage  drawn  along  in  triumph  on  the  road 
to  Port  Patrick. 

Arrived  at  London,  after  much  negotiation  and  delay 
with  ministers,  a  day  was  fixed  for  their  introduction  to 
the  king.  It  was  Wednesday,  the  2d  of  January,  1793. 
Standing  before  George  III.,  ("  who  received  them  very . 
graciously,")  th-  y  pai  into  his  own  hands,  the  petition  of 
their  constituertts,  and  after  some  compliments,  with- 
drew.* In  a  few  days,  they  were  assured  their  case 
would  be  recommended  in  the  next  r6yal  speech,  and  so 
leaving  one  of  their  number  behind  as  "  charge  d'affaire*," 
they  returned  to  Dublin,  to  report. 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  lY.,  for  this  most  interesting  document,  -with  all 
the  signatims. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


275 


menti  with  all 


The  castle  again  capitulated:  the  secretary,  who,  a 
year  before,  would-  not  listen  to  a  petition,  now  labored 
to  fix  a  limit  to  concession.  The  demand  of  complete 
emancipation,  unfortunately,  ("perhaps,)  was  hot  main- 
tained in  this  negotiation  as  nrmly  as  in  the  December 
debates.  The  news  of  the  execution  of  the  king  of 
France ;  the  efforts  of  the  secret  committee  of  the  House 
of  L^rds  to  inculpate  certain  Catholic  leaders  in  the 
United  Irish  system,  and  as  patrons  of  the  Defenders ; 
the  telling  argument,  that  to  press  all  was  to  risk  all,  — 
these  causes  combined  to  induce  the  sub-committee  to 
consent  to  less  than  the  convention  had  decided  to  insist 
upon.  Negotiation  was  the  strong  ground  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  they  kept  it.  Finally,  the  bill  was  intro- 
duced, and  on  the  9th  day  of  April,  1793,  it  became  the 
law  of  Ireland.  "  By  one  comprehensive  clause,"  says 
Tone,  "all  penalties,  forfeitures,  disabilities,  and  inca- 
"  pacities  are  removed ;  the  property  of  the  Catholic  is 
"  completely  discharged  from  the  restraints  and  limita- 
"  tions  of  the  penal  laws,  and  t  .eir  liberty,  in  a  great 
"  measure,  restored,  by  the  restoration  of  the  right  of 
"  elective  franchise,  so  long  withheld,  so  ardently  pur- 
"  sued.  The  right  of  self-defence  is  established  by  the 
"  restoration  of  the  privilege  to  carry  arms,  subject  to  a 
"  restraint,  which  does  not  seem  unreasonable,  as  ex- 
"  eluding  none  but  the  very  lowest  orders.  The  unjust 
"  and  unreasonable  distinctions  affecting  Catholics,  as  to 
"  service  on  grand  and  petty  juries,  are  done  away ;  the 
"  army,  navy,  and  all  other  offices  and  places  of  trust  arfe 
"  opened  to  them,  subject  to  exceptions  hereafter  men- 
"  tioned.  Catholics  may  be  masters  or  fellows  of  any 
"  college  hereafter  to  be  founded,  subject  to  two  con- 
"  ditions,  that  such  college  be  a  member  of  the  univer- 
"  sity,  and  that  it  be  not  founded  exclusively  for  the 
"  education  of  Catholics.  They  may  be  members  of  any 
"  lay  body  corporate,  except  Triniiy  College,  any  law, 
"  statute,  or  by-law  of  such  corporation  to  the  contrary 
"  notwithstanding.  They  may  obtain  degrees  in  the 
"  University  of  Dublin.  These,  and  some  lesser  immu- 
"  nities  and  privileges,  constitute  the  grant  of  the  bill, 


v 


276 


ATTEMPTS   TO    E8TABLIBH    TMB 


**  the  value  of  which  will  be  beat  ascertained  by  referring 
**  to  the  petition.  From  comparison^  it  will  appear  that 
"  every  complaint  recited  has  been  attended  to ;  every 
"  grievance  specified  has  been  removed.  Yet  the  prayer 
*<  of  the  petition  was  for  general  relief.  The  bill  is  not 
**  coextensive  with  the,  prayer.  The  measure  of  redress 
"  miist,  however,  be  estimated  by  the  extent  of  the  pre- 
"  vious  suffering  and  degradation  of  the  Catholics  set 
"  forth  by  themselves ;  and  in  this  point  of  view,  the  bill 
♦*  will  undoubtedly  justify  those  who  admitted  that  it 
♦*  afforded  solid  and  substantial  reliefi^ 

In  trvith'it  was  a  very  great  victory  over  the  policy  of 
the  reformation.  Catholics  were  still  excluded  from  the 
high  offices  of  lord  lieutenant,  lord  deputy,  and  lord 
chancellor.  What  was  much  more  important,  they  were 
excluded  from  sitting  in  Parliament  —  from  exercising 
legislative  power.  Still  the  franchise,  the  juries,  the 
professions,  and  the  universities  were  important  conces- 
sions. The  ferocious  penal  code  was  a  wreck  from  and 
after  the  9th  day  of  April,  1793. 

In  the  same  session  of  Parliament,  "the  convention 
act  against  representative  assemblies  "  was  passed,  which 
is  still  the  law  in  Ireland. 

The  sub-committee  having  met  to  return  thanks  to  the 
parliamentary  fathers  of  the  bill,  their  own  future  opera- 
tions became  also  a  topic.  Some  members  advisedithat 
they  should  add  "reform"  to  their  programme,  as  the 
remnant  of  the  penal  laws  were  not  sufficient  to  interest 
fend  attract  the  people.  Some  would  have  gone  much 
further  than  reform ;  some  were  well  content  to  rest  on 
their  laurels.  .There  were  ultras,  moderate  men,  and 
conservatives  even  in  the  twelve.  The  latter  were  more 
numerous  than  Wolfe  Tone  liked  or  expected.  That  ar- 
dent but  rather  unscrupulous  politician  had,  indeed, 
at  bottom,  a  strong  dislike  of  the  Catholic  religion;  he 
united  himself  with  them  because  he  needed  a  party ;  he 
remained  with  them  because  it  gave  him  importance; 
but  he  used  his  position  to  further  an  ulterior  design  —  an 
Irish  revolution  and  republic  on  the  French  plan.  The 
example  of  France  beeame  rather  a  terror  than  an  attrac- 


PR0TR8TANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


277 


referring 
pear  that 
to ;  every 
he  prayer 
bill  is  not 
of  redresfl 
f  the  pre- 
iholics  set 
w,  the  bill 
ed  that  it 

policy  of 
1  from  the 

and  lord 
they  were 
exercising 
uries,  the 
nt  conces- 

from  and 

;onvention 
3ed,  which 

nks  to  the 
iure  opera- 
vised  I  that 
ne,  as  the 
to  interest 
[one  much 
to  rest  on 
men,  and 
vere  more 
That  ar- 
i,  indeed, 
ligion;  he 
party;  he 
iportance; 
sign  —  an 
Ian.  The 
an  attrac- 


tion  to  older  and  wiser  men  than  Tone.  Edward  Byrne, 
Sir  Thomas  French,  and  other  <eminent  Catholics  were 
openly  .hostile  to  any  imitation  of  it,  and  the  Catholio 
dinner  at  Daly's,  to  celebrate  the  passage  of  the  lat«  bill, 
was,  in  spirit,  strongly  anti-Gallican.* 

Keogh,  McCormick,  and  McNevin,  however,  joined 
the  United  Irishmen,  and  the  two  latter  were  placed  on 
the  directory.  Keogh  withdrew,  when,  in  1795,  it  first 
became  a  secret  society. 

The  bishops,  who  had  cheered  on,  rather  than  partici- 
pated in,  the  late  struggle,  were  well  satisfied  with  lihe 
new  relief  bill  as  passed.  They  were,  by  education  and 
conviction,  conservatives.  Dr.  Plunkett  of  M»  ath.  Dr. 
Egan  of  Watcrford,  Dr.  Troy  of  Dublin,  and  1.  -.  Moy- 
lan  of  Cork,  were  the  most  remarkable  for  influence  and 
ability  at  this  period.  Dr.  Butler  of  Cashel,  and  his 
opponent.  Dr.  Burke  of  Ossory,  the  head  of  the  brave 
old  ultramontane  section,  were  both  recently  deceased. 
With  the  exception  of  the  apostate  Dr.  James  Butler, 
Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  Ross,  who  deserted  his  faith  and 
order  on  becoming  unexpectedly  heir  to  an  earldom,  the 
Irish  prelates  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  were  a  highly- 
accomplished  and  devoted  body.  Lord  Dunboyne's  fall 
was  the  only  cause  of  a  reproach  within  their  own  ranks. 
That  unhappy  prelate  made,  many  years  afterwards,  a 
death-bed  repentance,  was  reconciled  to  his  church,  and 
bequeathed  a  large  part  of  his  inherited  wealth  to  found 
the  Bourse  at  Maynooth  which  bears  his  name. 

•  The  patriots  in  Parliament  were  equally  conservative.  Grattan, 
Plunkett,  &c.,  strongly  supported  the  war ;  the  radicals,  on  Sir  Law- 
rence Parson's  division,  counted  only  nine  votes. 

24 


278 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    XHU 


4i  I 


ilL. 


.11 


CHAPTER  IV. 


1 1 


MATNOOTH    COLLEGE     FOUNDED.  -  UNION    OF     DEFENDERS    AND 

UNITED  IRISHMEN INSURRECTION  OF  1798.  — FALSEHOODS  CON- 

CERNIN6  CATHOLICS  ENGAGED  IN  IT.-PE0P03E1  LEGISLATIVE 
UNION. -PITT  AND  THE  BISHOPS.  — THE  ACT  OF  UNION;  ITS  RR. 
SULTS  ON  THE  CATHOLIC  CAUSE. 

The  French  revolution,  so  fruitful  of  ther  changes, 
intimately  affected  the  minds  of  men  in  Ireland.  In 
1792  and  1793,  the  Irish  students  began  to  abandon  the 
French  colleges,  and  the  next  year  those  colleges  were 
confiscated  to  the  state.  At  this  period  the  Irish  pos« 
sessed  three  hundred  and  fofty-eight  bourses  in  France, 
and  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  in  the  two  penin- 
sulas. To  have  these  sources  of  nistruction  suddenly 
closed  against  them  was  a  loss  which  stimulated  the 
Irish  hierarchy  to  seek  for  some  adequate  substitute. 

For  several  years  previous,  many  men  had  advocated 
the  necessity  of  native  Catholic  colleges.  In  1792,  Dr. 
Bellew  had  visited  Dublin  with  a  plan  for  a  provincial 
college  in  Connaught.  At  the  suggestion  of  Keogh  and 
Tone,  who  consulted  Kirwan,  the  philosopher,  upon  it, 
tlie  bitthop  extended  his  plc\n  so  as  to  embrace  the  king- 
dom. Failing  to  procure  the  cooperation  of  Archbishop 
Troy,  the  proposal  lapsed.  About  the  same  time,  Ed- 
mund Burke  was  urging  upon  Pitt,  with  all  his  eloquence, 
the  importance  to  the  slate  of  such  an  institution. 

In  1794,  the  Irish  bishops  unanimously  petitioned  the 
government  for  "a  royal  license"  to  establish  academies 
and  seminaries  for  clerical  education.  The  license  was 
granted,  and  the  Royal  College  of  St.  Patrick  was  begun 
at  Maynooth,  in  Kildare,  about  a  'dozen  miles  from 
Dublin.  During  "  the  recess  "  of  the  legislature,  the  min- 
ister became  convinced  of  the  soundness  of  Burke's  argu- 
ments, and  in  the  next  session,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
crown,  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  pounds  per  annum 
was  voted,  as  a  grant  to  the  new  institution.  The  vote 
(which  was  unanimous)  was  coupled  with  conditions. 


>  * 


w\0 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


279 


thut  the  students  entering  should  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance, and  that  a  board  of  visitors,  appointed  by  the 
crown,  were  to  make  an  annual  inspection  of  the  college. 
The  act  of  35  George  III.  c.  21,  was  passed  on  the  5th 
of  June,  1795,  being  the  last  day  of  the  session.  On  the 
same  day,  in  proroguing  the  Irish  Parliament,  the  lord 
•  lieutenant  observed  that  "a  wise  foundation  had  been 
laid  for  educating  at  home  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy." 

Dr.  Hussey,  the  intimate  friend  of  Burke,  and  after- 
wards Bishop  pf  Waterford,*  was  appointed  first  presi- 
dent; and  learned  professors,  many  of  them  refugees 
from  the  continental  revolution,  were  prtsented  to  the 
several  chairs  of  theology,  philosophy  ni  science;  and 
from  that  period  until  the  present,  St.  trick's  Coliege 
has  been  steadily  growing  in  power  ai        .    eputation. 

An  episode  in  Irish  hiutory,  which  for  many  years 
changed  the  whole  course  of  Irish  politics,  next  demands 
our  attention :  we  allude  to  the  union  of  Defenders  and 
United  Irishmen,  which  preceded  and  produced  the  in- 
surrection of  1798. 

Both  of  these  associations  originated  in  Ulster,  and 
neither  was,  at  first,  secret.     The  Defenders  originated  in 


*  Dr.  Thomas  Hussey  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  Irish  church 
in  his  day.  Educated  (we  believe)  in  a  Spanish  college,  he  made  the 
tour  of  Europe  as  guardian  of  a  young  Englishman,  son  to  Sir  John 
Webb.  At  Paris,  Vienna,  and  Rome,  his  talents  and  character  were  very 
highly  esteemed.  Returning  to  England,  he  became  chaplain  to  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  and,  in  1790,  was  appointed  by  the  English  Catholic 
committee  their  agent  at  Rome.  The  ambassador  refusing  to  consent, 
he  resigned  that  appointment,  and,  in  1795,  was  made  president  of  May- 
nooth.  He  attended  his  friend  Edmund  Burke  on  his  death  bed,  at  Bea- 
consfleld,  two  years  later,  and  is  stated  to  have  received  that  illustrious 
man  into. the  Catholic  communion.  "  His  eloquence  in  the  pulpit,"  says 
Charles  Butler,  "  was  really  great ;  but  it  rather  subdued  than  satisfied 
the  reason."  Mentioning  a  particular  sermon,  on  the  small  nnmber  of 
the  elect,  the  same  writer  says,  "  During  the  whole  of  this  apostrophe, 
the  audience  was  agonized.  At  the  ultimate  interrogation  there  was  a 
general  shriek,  and  some  fell  on  the  ground.  This  was  the  greatest 
triumph  of  eloquence  which  the  writer  has  chanced  to  witness."  —  Me- 
moirs of  t/ie  Catholics,  vol.  iv.  p.  438.  —  He  presided  over  Maynooth  only 
a  short  time,  was  removed,  partly  through  the  representations  of  the 
ministry,  but  was  soon  after  made  Bishop  of  Waterford.  He  died  early  in 
the  centujy,  having  a  reputation  among  his  contemporaries  second  to  none 
for  varied  and  cultivatea  abilities. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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ATTEMPTS  TO  BSTABLI8H   TBB 


Down,  about  1791,  in  opposition  to  the  ^FeepK>'-day 
Boys,'*  whose  rule  was  to  serve  Catholic  tenants  with 
midnight  notices  to  quit  their  holdings,  and  choose  <*  hell 
or  Gonnaught"  for  their  future  residence.  At  first  con- 
fined to  the  estate  of  Lord  Downshire,  they  soon  spread 
into  Armagh,  Monaghon,  and  Cavan,  thence  to  Meath 
and  Kildare,  and  thence  southward.  Thte  United  Irish- 
men originated  at  Belfast,  where,  in  October,  1791 ,  the 
first  dub  was  formed  by  Samuel  Neilson,  the  brothers 
Simms,  McCabe,  Wolfe  Tone,  and  some  otheri^  From 
Belfast  the  system  spread  to  Dublin,  where  Oliver  Bond, 
Richard  McCormick,  the  elder  Emmett,  Lord  Edward 
Fitzgerald,  and  other  eminent  men  were  admitted.  About 
two  thirds  of  the  founders  of  this  system  were  infidels 
of  the  French  school.  Their  anniversaries,  phraseology, 
4nd  principles  were  all  Frenah.*  ' 

In  1793,  it  became  necessary  for  the  Catholic  dbishops 
to  issue  pastorals  against  the  Defenders,  and,  for  the 
general  committee  at  Dublin  to  conc|^raia  their  riotous 
proceedings.  Wolfe  Tone,  at  this  time  secretary  to  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland,  had  imbibed  revolutionary  ideas  at 
Belfast,  and  while  publicly  joining  in  these  disclaimers  of 
Defenderism,  was  privavely  working  for  a  union  between 
them  and  the  United  Irishmen.  The  facilities  of  his 
position  enabled  him  to  bring  this  design  to  some  matu- 
rity in  1794,  shortly  before  his  forced  exile  to  America. 
It  was  not  without  much  difficulty  the  compact  was 
made,  nor  did  it  hold  together  without  continual  tinker- 
ing.    In  1793  in  Louth  and  Cavan,  in  1794  in  Meath, 


*  If  we  look  to  the  literature  of  the  insuziection  for  proodb  of  iti 
French  prinoipl^  we  will  find  them  at  every  page.  The;  oaw  of  associa- 
tion does  not  express  them,  being  couched  in  the  following  words :  "  I, 
A.  B.»  in  the  presence  of  God,  do  pledge  myself  to  my  country,  that  I 
will  use  all  my  ainlitiles,  and  ixdiuence  in  the  attainment  of  an  impartial 
,find  adequate  representation  of  the  Irish  nation  in  Parliament ;  and  as  a 
means  of  absolute  and  immediate  necessity  in  the  establishment  of  this 
chief  good  of  Ireland,  I  will  endeavoTf  as  much  as  lief  in  my  ability,  to 
forward  a  brotherhood  of  affection,  an  identity  of  interests,  a  communion 
of  i^hts,  and  a  union  of  power,  among  Irishmen  of  all  religious  per- 
•uasioni,  without  which,  every  reform  in  Parliament  must  be  partial,  not 
natioiial,,  inadequate  to  the  wants,  deluahre  to  the  wiahMi,  ^yi  iMufi- 
oiant  to  the  fireedom  mi.  happiness  of  Ihia  ooauti^" 

•    W    •  \,  *         ■ 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


281 


and  in  1795  in  Armagh,  the  Catholics  and  sectaries 
were  engaged  in  many  hostile  conflicts.  These  were  got 
tolerably  under  by  1796 ;  the  two  bodies  were  apparently 
one  in  1797 ;  the  secret  organization  by  districtB,  coun- 
ties, and  provinces,  was  complete ;  a  French  fase  alone 
was  needed  to  explode  the  entirei  mine.  This  requisite 
being  too  long  delayed  gave  occasion  for  the  organiza- 
tion to  be  broken  up  piecemeal,  and  with^  every  piece 
some  fragment  of  the  constitutional  liberties  of  1782 
was  torn  away.  « 

For  two  years  the  secret  union  had  held  together,  in  spite 
of  imprisonment  on  suspicion,  and  the  torture  of  hundreds 
to  extract  evidence.  State  trials  for  seditious  and  trea- 
sonable offc^nces  had  been  going  on  for  four  years ;  print- 
ers, writers,  and  orators,  the  Orrs,  Finertys,  and  Drennans 
being  the  chief  accused,  and  Curran,  Emmett,  Sampson, 
and  McNally,  the  chief  council  for  the  defence.  Clare, 
Castlereagh,  and  Carhampton  gdaded  on  the  multitude, 
as  eager  for  the  banquet  of  blood  as  the  ghosts  that  rose 
to  drink  of  that  shed  in  sacrifice  to  Pluto  by  Ulysses. 
Still  waiting  for  France,  the  tJnited  Directory  debated, 
until  a  final  meeting  was  fixed  for  the  12th  of  March, 
1798,  at  the  house  of  Oliver  Bond,  in  Bridge  Street, 
Dablin.  On  that  night,  Bond,  O'Connor,  and  others 
were  arrested,  being  betrayed  by.  Thomas  Reynolds,  who 
held  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  insurrection.  McNevin, 
Emmett,  and  Sampson  were  -arrested  in  the  course  of  a 
few  day^  and  two  months  after.  Lord  Edward  Fitzger- 
ald was  captured  in  his  hiding-place  in  Thomas  Street, 
after  a  desperate  struggle.  In  April,  Wexford  county 
rose,  and  for  three  months  fought  against  fiive  armies,  aU 
concentrated  on  her  heroic  soil.  In  May,  there  were 
risings  in  Kildare  and  Wicklow,  which  commenced  gal- 
lantly and  successfully;  at  the  same  time,  partial  risings 
took  place  in  Down  and  Antrim,  in  which  great  courage 
was  shown.  But  the  Aiu[ust  sun  went  down  on  the 
ripened  harvests  of  Clare,  Castlereagh,  and  Carhampton. 
Four  noble  counties  in  Leinster  and  two  in  Ulster  w^re 
disfigttretl  from  end  to  end  with  blood.  Half  a  dozen 
priests  and  Presbyterian  ministers  perished  in  the  com- 
24*--   •    •  ,  '       „ 


isi 


I 


til 


^  \ 


ATTEMPTS  TO   BVTABLISH   TBV 


\l 


ihoii  cause.  Hambert*8  descent  on  K^ala  made  Con- 
na'Jght  a  later  participator  in  the  lofty  hopes  and  cniel 
realities  of  the  insurrection.  Scaffolds  rose  in  every  qnar- 
t^  of  a  suspected  dislxict;  jails  were  choked  with  prison- 
firs  ;  convi<H  ships  groaned  with  exiles,  sent  to  serve  under 
the  flag  of  Prussia,  or  to  follow  Abercrombie  into  Efi^ypt 
Tone  came  at  last  from  France ;  too  late  to  serve  his 
fiLuse,  but  not  too  late  to  perish  heroically  with  it.  Fitz- 
gerald had  preceded  him,  dying  a  prisoner;  Emmett, 
McNevin,  Sampson,  O'Connor,  vfreie  in  Fort  George, 
ilestined  to  die  in  America  or  Fiance ;  Neilson,  McCabe, 
^rbet,  Sweetman,  shared  their  fate,  or  anticipated  their 
iMiniahment  The  winter  days  of  1798  were  the  saddest 
that  for  a  century  had  darkened  over  Ireland. 

The  majority  of  the  leaders  in  the  insurrection  of 
1798  vf&te  undoubtedly  Presbyterians  and  ProtestantS) 
who  had  imbibed  French  principles.  Several  0^tholics 
jtcted  cordially  with  them,  and  in  the  rising  at  least 
three  clergymen  actively  cooperated  —  Fathers  Philip 
Roche,  Michael  Murphy,  and  John  Murphy.  At  ScuUa- 
Ixogue  and  on  Wexford  Bridge,  the  Catholic  peasantry 
did  cruel  execution  on  several  prisoners,  then  defenceless. 
But  the  general  character  of  the  insurgents  was  merci- 
lulu. too  merciful  for  success.  When  we  <x>nsider  the 
fHTOvocatioBS  they  had  borne  for  nearly  three  years,  we 
are  surprised  that  a  more  general  and  merciless  retalia- 
tion did  not  follow.  In  all  their  victories  they  spared 
the  Women  and  children,  and  usually  the  men.  This  all 
;tiie  contemporary  recor<^s  prove  beyond  questioiv* 

^1     II    ^        *"■    ■■1-^  ■■!■■■    '■      II  I  '■    ■     t^—m    ^   ■  ,     I    .1         ^m.      > p..—   —   ■  ■     .■.  ■  11  I  ■    I       I     mi  I     III      .   — 

#  This .  iterc^U  disposition  of  the  Catholics  was  not  redprocated, 
either  by  the  government  troops  or  the  Protestant  yeomiknry.  The  wan- 
tonness with  which  they  i^ot  ^own  fugitives  and  unarmed  individuals, 
the  mutUation  of  the  dead  bodies,  as  at  Arklow,  contrast  most  unfavor- 
ably with  the  conduct  of  the  Qath^cs  when  victorious.  In  the  county 
"of  We9;f<nrd  alonie,  above  thirty  Catholic  chapels  weare  destroyed  by  priv- 
ileged incendiaries  between  the  suppression  of  the  inslMrection  and  the 
end  of  the  year  1801.  Rewards  wer^ffered  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
burglars  by  the  grand  jury  of  the  county ;  but  no  evidence  was  obtained 
|n  179)^  several  leases  ef  Catholics  expired  in  that  eoun^,  wh^  notices 
jirere  posted  up  by  the  Orange  Society,  declaring  thi^'*  no  Papist  should 

Etume  to  take  the  lands."    '*t1ie  lands  of  ceurt,"  says  Mr.  Edward 
7,  *•  thus  profloi^bed,  remained  waste  fior  nearly  two  yean.".  Inth^ 


PROTB0TAIfT  RBFOBMATIOlf  IN  IBBLAND. 


The  pofdtioR  of  ike  Irish  Cath<^o  rebels  w^s  till  on- 
aatural  one.  Their  Ulster  allies  Were,  in  general,  pioader 
of  the  title  citizen  than  of  the  title  Christian ;  infidel 
France  was  to  be  their  ally  and  sponsor.  Wexford  was 
mother  La  Vendee ;  how,  then,  could  it  warm  to  the  en* 
emies  of  all  rdigion  ?  The  opposition  of  the  clergy  and 
bishops,  as  a  body,  was  another  sad  drawback  upon  their 
oourage ;  for,  though  quite  ready  to  risk  their  bodiesy  they 
wisely  feared  to  risk  their  souls.  It  must  be  granted 
they  behaved  valiatrtly,  and  their  descendants  have  no 
necMl  to  blush  oyer  the  story  of  1798 ;  but,  in  such  a  con* 
{usion  of  political  principles,  it  was  well  they  failed. 
For  their  temporary  disobedience  of  their  pastors  they 
were  fearfully  punished  in  the  executions  of  1799  and , 
1800.* 

In  those  years  the  ministers  at  Dublin,  in  the  interyals 
of  military  preparation,  were  zealously  pushing  on  the 
old  {NTOject  of  <<  legislative  union."  The  Catholics,  having 
become  a  social  power  since  1782,  and  a  political  power 
since  1793,  entered,  of  course,  into  the  calculations  both  - 
of  the  patriot  and  the  castle  party.  The  Catholic  com- 
mittee had  been  compromised  by  the  identificalion  of  so 
many  of  its  members  with  the  insurrection,  and  did  not 
ieas8<^mble  until  1805.  Government,  therefore,  could 
only  treat  with  the  bishops  on  behalf  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

The    remaining    penal    laws    were    left    untouched 
since  1793.     Two  years  later.  Lord   Fitzwilliam,  the 

^^i^—        ■  I  I       ■        I    !■  I     II II  I     ■■!■■  I  ■■■■■■■ .1.    Ml  II-  — I      .,    I  i^         I    ■■■  I    ■IH^^— ^ 

same  county,  from  the  notoiious  prejudices  of  the  jury  class,  **  many 
prisoners  preferred  to  be  tried  by  a  mihtary  rather  than  a  ciril  tribimal." 
Courts  martial  continued  to  sit  till  1802.  —  Hay,  Iri»h  EebelUon,  p.  241 
0tteq.    Dublin^  Duffy,  1848. 

*  One  effect  of  the  failure  of  the  insurrection  was  to  break  up  alto- 
gether the  political  union  of  the  Catholics  and  Presbyterians.  The 
Fr«&ch  principles  upon  which  this  union  had  been  formed  did  not  out- 
live, at  the  north  or  south,  the  seven  years  of  martial  law  which  followed 
1798.  The  Belfast  Propaganda,  who  organized  with  Tone,  were  either 
exiled,  or  dead,  or  disgusted  with  politics.  Whenever  they  met,  recrim- 
inations  took  place  between  the  Catholic  and  Presbyterian  revolutionists, 
each  attributing  to  the  other  the  chief  blame  of  the  failure.    Twenty 

Jean  later,  it  woidd  be  hard  to  tell  which  class  was  the  mora  profiiM 
I  pnMfeMioiui  of  unconditional  loyalty.         / 


Mi 


.I'M 


I.  ],• 


m,  -■ 


384 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH.  THB 


viceroy,  who  had  declared  for  their  total  abolitioii,  was 
immediately  recalled,  and  Lord  Camden  put  in  his 
place.  On  the  Slat  of  January,  1799,  Mr..  Pitt  intro- 
duced into  the  English  Parliament  ^he  resolutions  which 
he  <' proposed  as  the  basis  of  a  Union  between  Qreat 
3ritain  and  Ireland.*'  In  that  speech,  alluding  to  the 
Irish  Catholics,  he  said,  *^  No  man, can  say  that,  in  the 
present  state  of  things,  while  Ireland  remains  a  separate 
kingdom,  full  concessions  can  be  made  to  the  Catholics 
without  endangering  the  state  and  shaking  the  constitu- 
tion to  the  centre.''  This  was  clearly  holding  out  a 
hope  of  a  change  of  laws  when  Ireland  ceased  to  be 
"  a  separate  kingdom."  On  the  peace  with  Napoleon, 
„  when  he  retired  from  office  for  a  time,  he  so  explained  it 
in  his  resignation  speech.  '^  I  beg  to  have  it  understood 
to  be ,  a  measure  which,  if  I  had  remained  in  govern- 
ment, I  must  have  proposed."  ^ 

These  intentions  were  conveyed  more  definitely  to  the 
Irish  bishops  by  Lord  Cornwallis,  the  viceroy,  in  1799, 
and  Lord  Castlereagh,  the  secretary  of  state.  Both  min- 
isters conveyed  their  sentiments  in  writing' to  Archbishop 
Troy,  of  Dublin.  Mr.  Pitt  wrote,  "  They  [the  Catholics] 
may  with  confidence  rely  on  the  zealous  support  of  all 
thos&  who  retire,  and  of  many  who  remain  in  office, 
when  it  catt  be  given  with  a  prospect  of  success."  Lord 
Cornwallis  wrote,  that  the  Catholics,  "  having  so  many 
characters  of  eminence  pledged  not  to  embark  in  the  ser- 
vice of  government,  except  on  the  terms  of  the  Catholic 
privileges'  being  obtainedy^  the  Catholics  ought,  accord- 
ingly, to  "prefer  a  quiet  and  peaceable  demeanor  to  any 
line  of  conduct  of  an  opposite  description."  It  is  cer- 
tain that  these  assurances  did  induce  the  ten  bishops 
who  were  trustees  of  Maynooth,  in  a  meeting  of  their 
board,  to  express  their  confidence  in  the  ministers  then 
negotiating  the  legislative  union :  it  also  had  the  efiect 
of  bringing  the  Catholic  hierarchy,  instead^  of  the  laity, 
as  formerly,  into  negotiation' with  the  rulers  of  the  state. 
On  the  17th,  18th,  and  19th  of  January,  1779,  the 
bishops  who  were  Maynooth  trustees  sat  at  Dublin, 
-±      "to  deliberate  on  a  proposal  firom  government  for  an 


PROTBBTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


285 


independent  provision  for  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
of  Ireland^  under  certain  regulations  not  incompatiMe 
with  their  doctrine,  discipline,  or  just  influence."  A 
minute  of  this  meeting,  signed  by  the  four  archbishops 
and  the  Bishops  of  Meath,  Cork,  Kildare,  Elphin,  Ferns, 
and  Ardagh,  was  approved  and  submitted  to  the  minis- 
ters. The  "certain  regulations"  were,  in  a  word,  to. 
control  the  appointment  of  bishops ;  to  give  government 
"  a  veto*"  on  bishops  elect  The  ten  prelates  just  men- 
tioned ageed  to  lay  before  government  the  names  of  the 
nominees,  they  undertaking  to  "  transmit  the  name  of 
said  candidate,  if  no  objection  be  made  against  him, 
for  appointment  to  the  holy  see,"  within  a  month  of 
receiving  it  Further,  the .  prelates  agreed,  "  If  govern- 
ment have  any  proper  objection  against  such  candi- 
dates, the  president  of  the  election  will  be  informed 
thereof  within  one  month  after  the  presentation,  who, 
in  that  case,  will  convene  the  electors  to  the  election 
of  another  candidate."  By  this  undertaking.  Primate 
O'Reilly  and  the  hierarchy,  in  1799,  granted  to  the  state 
what  Primate  O'Reilly  and  the  hierarchy,  in  1666,  suf- 
fered exile  and  death  rather  than  concede.  Fortunately  for 
the  Irish  church,  the  state  neglected  to  conclude  the  com- 
pact at  that  time,  and  in  the  synod  of  1808,  till  the  prel- 
ates, having  reviewed  the  question,  unanimously  rejected 
both  the  state  provision  and  the  concession  of  "  the  veto  " 
to  the  crown.  In  the  synod  of  1810,  they  renewed  their 
recent  declaration  with  additional  emphasis ;  and  when- 
ever, since  then,  the  matter  has  been  considered  of  impor- 
tance, they  have  repeated  their  resolutions  against  the 
interference  of  the  state. 

The  minutes  of  the  synod  of '1799  have  fi^quently 
been  reproduced  in  the  British  Parliament  and  by  the 
press.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Milner,  at  the  time  he  was 
acting  as  their  agent  in  London,  declared  that  "  the 
prelates  were  beset  and  plied "  into  that  concession. 
Mr.  Clinch,  a  Catholic  barrister,  who  acted  as  secretary 
to  Dr.  Troy  in  his  civil  affairs,  and  who  was  high  in  the 
confidence  of  all  the  hierarchy,  in  defending  the  counter 
resolutions  of  1808,  says  that  the  former  propositions 


m 


If:' 


f  ■ 


''iiM 


H     • 


266 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


were  agreed  to  *<when  the  feisn  of  terror  was  still 
breathinff,  by  practising  tipon  rear 'and  solitude,  and 
by  little  less  than  a  menace/'  *  It  is  certain  that,  at  the 
time,  the  body  of  the  Catholics  were  much  opposed  to 
any  understanding  or  compact  with  the  British  govern- 
ment. On  the  13th  of  January,  1800,  at  an  ann-union 
meeting,  John  Keogh  and  other  Catholics  openly  ex- 
pressed this  dissatisfaction;  in  a  maiden  speech,  Daniel 
O'Connell,  then  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  declared  the 
Catholics  would  "rathen*  see  the  whole  penal  code 
reenacted  than  to  consent  to "  the  union.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  after  the  union,  this  question  of  "  the  veto  " 
was  the  chief  sround  of  debate  between  the  government 
and  the  CathoUcs. 

In  the  year  1800,  ^^  the  act  of  union  "  was  passed  at 
Dublin,  and  repassed  at  London.  It  decreed  <*  that  the 
said  kingdoms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  shall^  upon 
the  first  day  of  January,  which  shall  be  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  one,  and  for- 
ever, be  united  into  one  kingdom,  by  the  name  of 
*  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.' "  f 


•  Clinch's  Inquiry.   DubUn,  1810.    ^ 

t  The  fifth  article  of  the  act  of  union  disposes  of  the  Protestant  estab- 
lishment as  follows :  -— 

"  AntioLB  Fifth.  That  it  be  the  fifth  »ticle  of  imion,  that  the  churches 
of  England  and  Ireland,  as  now  by  law  established,  be  united  into  one 
I^testant  Episcopal  church,  to  be  called  <*  the  united  church  of  England 
and  Ireland ; "  and  that  the  doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and  govern- 
ment of  the  said  united  church  shall  be  and  shall  remain  in  full  ibrce 
forever,  as  the  same  are  now  by  law  established  for  the  church  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  that  th«  continuance  and  preservation,  of  tho  said  united 
church,  as  the  established  church  of  England  and  Ireland,  shaU  be 
deemed  and  taken  to  be  an  essential  and  fundamental  pa^  of  the  union ; 
and  that  in  Uke  manner  the  doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and  government 
of  the  church  of  Scotland  shall  remain  and  be  preserved  as  the  same  are 
now  established  by  law,  and  by  the  acts  for  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms 
Qf  England  and  Scotland." 

The  eighth  article  provides  for  the  election  of  the  Protestant  '*  lords 
spiritual,"  in  the  following  order :  — 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  king's  most  excellent  majesty,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  commons^n 
this  present  Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same, 
that  the  said  four  lords  spiritual  shall  be  taken  from  among  the  lords 
spiritual  of /Ireland  in  the  manner  following :  that  k  to  say,  that  one  of 


PROTESTANT   BBFORMATION  IN    IBBLAND. 


287 


otestant  estab- 


}stant  "lords 


Strange  piece  of  parchment !  Here,  by  an  act,  legal  in 
its  forms,  but  atrocious  in  its  antecedents,  was  an 
apcient  Christian  nation  merged  into  a  vast,  irreligious, 
money-making  empire,  which  embraced  nearly  one  hun- 
dred million  Mohammedans  in  Asia,  a  large  barbaric 
population  in  Africa,  a^d  some  twenty  millions  of  her- 
etics in  Ghreat  Britain  and  her  colonies.  l«'or  what  wise 
end,  unseen  of  man,  was  this  outrage  on  Ireland  permit- 
ted by  divine  Providence?  Fifty  years  do  not  always 
exhibit  the  ways  of  God,  but  we  may  be  assured  the 
incorporation  of  I^reland  into  the  empire,  at  the  beginning 
of  such  a  century  as  the  present,  did  not  happen  without 
its  purpose  in  the  divine  economy  which  governs  the 
earth.     Some  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  change  are  already 

the  four  archbishops  of  Ireland,  and  three  of  the  eighteen  bishops  of  Ire- 
land, shall  sit  in^the  House  of  Lords  of  the  united  Parliament  in  each  ses- 
sion thereof,  the  said  right  of  sitting  being  regulated  as  between  the  said 
archbishops  respectively  by  a  rotation  among  ^  the  archiepiscopal  sees 
firam  session  to  session,  and  in  like  manner  that  of  the  bishops  by  a  like 
rotation  among  the  episcopal  sees ;  that  the  Primate  of  all  Ireland  for  the 
time  being  shsui  sit  i  ^  the  first  session  of  the  Parliament  of  the  United 
Kingdom ;  the  Arclibishop  of  Dublin  for  the  time  being,  in  the  second ; 
the  Archbishop  of  Cashel  for  the  time  being,  in  the  third ;  the  Archbishop 
of  Tuam  for  the  time  being,  in  the  fourth ;  and  so  by  rotation  of  sessions 
forever;  such  rotation  to  proceed  regularly  and  -without  interruption 
from  sesHon  to  session,  notwithstanding  any  dissolutioh  or  expiration  of 
Parliament ;  that  three  suffragan  bishops  shall  in  like  manner  sit  accord- 
ing to  rotation  of  their  sees,  from  sessipn  to  session,  in  the  following 
order :  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Meath,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Kildare,  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  Derry,  in  the  first  session  of  the  Parliament  of  the  United  King- 
dom ;  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Eaphoe,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Limerick,  Ardfert, 
and  Aghadoe,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Dromore,  in  the  second  session  of  the 
Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom;  the  Lo  i^  Bishop  of  Elphin,  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  the  Lord  Bish.;p  o?  Waterford  and  Lismore, 
in  the  third  session  of  the  Parliament  of  the  Z  uited  Kingdom ;  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  Leighlin  and  Ferns,  the  Lord  Bishor  jf  Cloyne,  the  Lord  Bishop 
of  Cork  and  Koss,  in  the  fourth  session  of  the  Parliament  of  the  United 
Kingdom ;  the  Lord  Bishop  of  KUlaloe  nnd  Kilfenora,  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Kilmore,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Clogher,  in  the  fifth  session  of  the  Parliament 
of  the  United  Kingdom ;  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Ossory,  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Killala  and  Achonry,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Clonfert  and  Kilmacduagh,  in 
the  sixth  session  of  the  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  the  said  rota- 
tion to  be  nevertheless  subject  tonsuch  variation  therefrom,  from  time  to 
time,  as  is  hereinafter  provided." 

The  lotds  spiritual  of  <'  the  united  churches  "  have  thus,  since  1801* 
been  jointly  responsible  for  the  imperial  laws  under  which  India,  Ireland, 
•nd  the  oppressed  British  people  have  groaned,  and  starred,  and  with- 
ered away.    Let  not  that  fact  Be  forgotten ! 


\-.  ■> 


.388 


ATTEMPTS   TO   B8TABLIBH   THE 


to  be  seen  in  Greai  Britain  and  her  foreign  poBsessions, 
as  well  as  in  those  countries  which  Britiui  policy  influ- 
ences. 

Bringing  Catholic  Ireland  bodily  into  the  empire  in 
1800,  threw  her  once  more  on  the  conservative  side  of 
the  European  struggle  which  dates  from  the  French  rev* 
olution.  Grattan  not  less  zealously  than  Burke,  and 
O'Connell  as  zealously  as  either,  has  kept  Ireland,  until 
our  own  day,  upon  that  side.  Strange  as  it  may  sound, 
the  Irish  blood  that  spouts  from  the  l^reaches  of  Spanish 
towns  in  the  peninsular  war  was  shed  in  the  setftiaiDe 
cause  of  the  unity  and  order  of  Christendom  as  the  Irish 
blood  which  flowed  at  Almanza,  Fontenoy,  and  Veletri. 
A  mysterious  design  penetrates  and  gives  coherence  to 
all  the  wars  of  the  devoted  islanders. 

Bringing  Catholic  Ireland  bodily  into  the  empire  in 
1800,  made  Catholic  "questions"  imperial  questions. 
London  was  slowly  leavened  out  of  the  lump  thus 
placed  in  her  midst.  For  a  century  the  English  Cath- 
olics had  been  timid  aud  compromising;  without  a 
hierarchy  for  two  generations,  the  few  remaining  nobles 
usually  looked  on  the  vicars  apostolic  as  their  family 
chaplains.  Drs.  Poynter,  Challoncr,  and  Hay  were  sure- 
ly  able  and  virtuous  men,  but  they  had  an  extreme  opin- 
ion of  the  power  of  the  state,^  and  an  humble  estiiriate 
of  their  own.  The  union  prepared  the  way  for  a  united 
Catholic  organization,  in  which  the  Irish  should  supply 
what  the  English  wanted  for  success  against  the  sects. 
The  gradual  but  decided  restoration  of  religion  in  Eng- 
land since  the  beginning  of  the  century  is,  in  part,  dedu- 
cible  from  this  cause. 
-  Fifty  years  ago,  the"  state  domineered  the  church  in 
every  European  country  —  in  France,  Spain,  Portugal, 
Austria,  and  Italy.  The  triumph  of  the  Catholics  over . 
the  imperial  Parliament,  over  the  sovereign,  and  the 
Duke  of  'VY®l^'*g*on,  was  felt  from  end  to  end  of  Europe. 
Gallicanism  felt  it,  Pombaldism  felt  it,  Jdsephism  felt  it 
A  tri,i:giiph  at  London  over  the  empire  was.  a  very  differ- 
ent matter  from  a  triumph  at  Dublin  over  "the  castle 
party.''     The  one  could  only  have  national,  the  other 


PR0TB8TANT   RBFOBMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


389 


had  universal  results.  In  reality,  thouffh  not  at  first  in 
appearance,  Catholicity  became  aggressive  in  the  British 
dominions  from  the  time  of  the  act. of  union.  The  ases 
of  defence  had  closed  successfully,  so  far  as  doctrme 
and  discipline  were  involved. 

The  English  speakins  regions  of  America  and  Aus- 
tralia were  not  less  influenced  by  tl^  infusion  of  the 
Catholic  spirit  of  Ireland  into  imperial  politics  than  the 
British  dominions  proper.  At  Sydney,  as  at  New  York, 
wherever  English  commerce  has  an  entry,  it  has  carried 
insensibly  with  it  the  seed  of  the  church.  In  1800,  Irish 
emigrants  crossed  the  Ohio;  in  1808,  of  the  first  five 
bishops  of  the  United  States  three  were  of  Irish  oriffin. 
In  1820,  the  Irish  in  Australia  raised  the  first  cross  that 
crowned  a  Christian  temple  in  that  land,  and  within  our 
own  memory  an  Australian  hierarchy  h^s  been  supplied 
partly  from  the  same  source.  Upon  the  slave  coast,  in 
California,  in  India,  in  Newfoundland,  Irish  laymen, 
priests,  and  prelates,  through  an  indirect  British  agency, 
have  been  settled  and  organized.  Thus,  as  tHe  conduits 
and  highways  of  pagan  Rome  bore  Christianity  outward 
over  the  earth,  so  the  material  machinery  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, subjected  without  its  own  knowledge,  has  been 
made  to  serve  Catholic  purposes,  and  to  conduce  to  the 
triumphs  of  the  faith,  so  long  and  bitterly  persecuted 
in  Ireland. 

26 


290 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THB 


li'i 


ll 


p 


ml         f 


I  I 


CHAPTER    V. 


CATHOLIC  QUESTION  IN  THE  IMPERIAL  FABUAMENT.  ~  PITT. . 
rOX.-UR£NVILLE.-CATHOUC  COMMITTEE  OV  1606. -ITS  DISSO- 
LUTION. —  CATHOLIC  BOARD  FORMED.  — YETO  C0NTB0VEB8Y. - 
DISSOLUTION  OF  THB  BOARD.  —  LETHARGY  OF  THE  CATHOLIG& 
—  STATE  OF  IRELAND  A.  D.  1830. 

The  first  years  after  the  union  were  as  dismal  and 
discouraging  as  any  the  much'Cnduring  island  had  under- 
gone. Until  1802,  the  insurrection  act  continued  in  full 
^rce;  in  1803,  Emmett's  emeute  gave  a  momentary  shock 
to  the  national  stupefaction.  On  this  pretence  the  ha- 
beas  cprpus  was  suspended,  and  martial  law  i»roclaimed. 
This  state  of  things  continued  till  the  opening  of  1805 — 
the  year  of  the  revival  of  public  spirit. 

On  the  assembling  of  Parliament  in  that  year,  the  re- 
maining members  of  the  old  Catholic  committee  came 
together  at  Dublin,  and  prepared  a  petition,  which  they 
sent  forward  by  Lord  Fingal.  On  reaching  London, 
that  nobleman  committed  the  presentation  of  the  petition 
to  Lord  Grenville  in  one  house,  and  Mr.  Fox  in  tl.e 
other.  On  the  13th  of  May,  Mr.  Fox  moved  for  a  com- 
mittee to  take  the  petition  into  consideration.  Dr.  Dui- 
genan,  member  for  Trinity  College,  opposed  it^  and  Mr. 
Grattan,  who  was  induced  to  enter  the  imperial  legisla- 
ture, made  his  first  speech  there  in  its  defence.  The 
motion  was  negatived  by  a  majority  of  336  against  124. 

In  sustaining  the  motion.  Sir  John  Cox  Hippesley,  a 
leading  whig,  had  suggested  "  the  veto "  as  a  safeguard 
against  ''the  encroachments  of  Rome,''#which  the  Irish 
bishops  would  not  be  disposed  to  refuse.  Archbishop 
Troy,  and  Dr.  Moylan,  Bishop  of  Cork,  gave  considerable 
praise  to  this  speech,  and  partly  at  their  request  it  was 
published.  This  brought  up  directly  a  discussion  among 
the  Catholics,  which  lasted  until  1810,  was  renewed  in 
1813,  and  was  not  finally  set  at  rest  till  the  concession  of 
"  the  relief  bill  of  1829,  without  any  such  safeguard."  Sir 
John  C.  Hippesley  had  modelled  his  proposal,  he  said,  on 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


291 


the  example  of  "  the  old  Oallican  church,  ever  jealous  of 
the  encroachments  of  Rome.''  '*  Her  privileges/'  he  add- 
ed, **  depended  on  two  prominent  maxims :  1st.  That  the 
pope  had  no  authority  to  order  or  interfere  in  any  thins 
in  which  the  civil  rights  of  the  kingdom  were  concerned. 
2dly.  That  notwithstanding  the  pope's  supremacy  wan 
acknowledged  in  cases  purely  spiritual,  yet,  in  other 
respects,  his  power  was  limited  by  the  decrees  of  the  an- 
cient councils  of  the  realm."  The  Irish  church,  there- 
fore, was  to  be  similarly  administered,  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  the  whig  friends  of  emancipation. 

In  1806,  on  the  death  of  Pitt,  Mr.  Fox  came  into  pow- 
er, with  an  uncertain  majority  and  a  powerful  opposition. 
His  cabinet  were  all  orators  —  "all  the  talents,"  they 
were  called.  In  April,  the  Duke  of  Bedford  arrived,  as 
viceroy,  at  Dublin,  and  the  Catholics  presented,  through 
Mr.  Keogh,  a  mild  address,  expressive  of  their  hopes  that 
"the  glorious  development"  of  their  emancipation  would 
be  reserved  for  the  new  government.  The  duke  returned 
an  evasive  answer  in  public,  but  privately,  both  at  Dublin 
and  London,  the  Catholics  were  assured  that,  as  soon  as 
the  new  premier  could  convert  the  king,  —  as  soon  as  he 
was  in  a  position  to  act,  —  he  would  make  their  cause  his 
own.  No  doubt  Fox,  who  had  great  nobleness  of  soul, 
intended  g-^  to  do;  but  on  the  13th  of  September  of  the 
same  year,  he  followed  his  great  rival,  Pitt,  to  the  vaults 
of  Westminster  Abbey.  There  were  but  a  few  months 
between  their  deaths. 

Lords  Grey  and  Grenville,  during  the  next  recess, 
formed  a  new  administration,  and  instructed  their  Irish 
secretary  (Mr.  Elliot)  to  put  himself  in  communication 
with  the  Catholics,  in  relation  to  a  measure  making  them 
eligible  to  all  naval  and  military  offices.  The  Catholics 
accet)ted  this  proposal  with  pleasure,  but  at  .the  opening 
of  the  session  of  1807  sent  a  deputation  to  the  Irish  au- 
thorities "  to  urge  the  question  of  emancipation."  The  bill 
in  relation  to  the  army  and  navy  had,  originally,  the  king's 
acquiescence  ;  but  early  in  March,  after  it  had  been  once 
read  in  the  commons  and  committed,  George  III.  changed 
his  mind  —  if  the  expression  may  be  used  of  him  —  at 


292 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


that  time.  He  declared  he  had  not  considered  it  at  first 
so  important  as  he  a/terwards  found  it ;  he  now  refused 
to  permit  it  to  be  made  a  government  propositibn ;  he 
went  further  —  he  required  a  written  pledse  from  Lords 
Grey  and  Grenville  never  again  to  bring  forward  such  a 
measure,  **  nor  ever  more  to  propose  any  thing  connected 
with  the  Catholic  question."  This  pledge  they  refused 
to  give,  and  resigned.  Mr.  Perceval  was  then  sent  for 
by  the  king,  and  formed  what  was  called  "the  No 
Popery  cabinet,"  in  which  G«orge  Canning  and  Lord 
Castlereagh  were  two  of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state. 
Thus  the  Catholic  interest,  in  1807,  was  powerful  enough 
to  make  and  unmake  ministries  —  an  achievement  it  has 
more  than  once  repeated  since  then.  Pitt,  Fox,  Grey, 
and  Grenville  had  been  governed  by  it  as  effectually 
as  they  had  governed  their  several  departments  while 
in  office,*  I 


♦  "  Lords  Grey  and  Grenville,"  says  a  contemporary,  "  would  have 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  1812,  had  they  not  insisted  on  re- 
forming the  royal  household.  They  were  aware  that  the  prince  regent 
was  under  the  influence  of  a  mistress,  and  a  convenient  husband,  who  had 
more  power  over  bis  mind  than  his  ministers ;  and  they  refused  to  enter 
the  cabinet  so  long  as  the  Hertford  family  held  possession  of  the  closet 
Earl  Moira,  to  whom  the  negotiation  had  been  intrusted,  indulged  in 
those  feelings  of  courtly  chivalry  which  moralists  stigmatize  by  the  name 
of  criminal  connivance ;  he  refused  to  place  any  restraint  upon  the  amo* 
Tous  predilections  of  the  prince,  and  Ireland  was  sacrificed  to  a  worthless 
woman,  whose  only  claim  to  respect  was  her  title. 

"  O'Connell  assuredly  must  be  pardoned  for  having  denounced  such 
proceedings  with  all  the  powers  of  his  fervid  eloquence ;  but  the  Cath- 
olics cannot  be  acquitted  of  imprudence  for  having  adopted  the  *  witch- 
ery '  resolutions,  which  proclaimed  the  scandal  to  Europe.  These  reso- 
lutions derive  their  name  from  the  fourth,  which  we  must  quote: 
*  That,  from  authentic  documents  now  before  us,  we  learn,  with  deep  dis- 
appointment and  anguish,  how  cruelly  the  promised  boon  of  Catholic 
freedom  has  been  intercepted  by  the  fatal  witchery  oi  an  unworthy  secret 
influence,  hostile  to  our  fairest  hopes,  spuming  alike  the  sanctions  of 
public  and  private  virtue,  the  demands  of  personal  gratitude,  and  the  sa- 
cred obligations  of  plighted  honor.' 

"  On  this  pregnant  text  O'Connell  delivered  a  long  and  eloquent  dis- 
course, in  which  he  lashed,  ^ith  unsparing  seventy,  the  regent,  Lady 
Hertford,  and  all  the  members  of  the  new  ministry.  This  offence  was 
never  forgiven ;  sixteen  years  afterwards,  Georgo  IV.  made  it  a  condition 
of  his  consent  to  CathoHc  emancipation,  that  O'Connell  should  not  be 
allowed  to  take  his  seat  as  member  for  Clare."  —  Reminiscences  of  O'Con- 
nell,  by  a  Muttster  Farmer.    London :  Fisher  &  Co.,  1847. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN  IRELAND. 


293 


The  Catholic  committee,  revived  in  1805,  had  been  a 
good  deal  dispirited  by  the  overwhelming  majority  by 
which  their  petition  of  that  year  was  refused  to  be  re- 
ferred. In  1806,  they  contented  themselves  with  address- 
ing the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  waiting  on  providence  and 
Mr.  Ponsonby.  In  1807,  the  "  No  Popery  cabinet,"  by  the 
result  of  the  elections,  was  found  to  be  highly  popular  in 
England  —  a  fact  which  excluded  all  prospect  of  having 
a  government  on  their  side.  But  they  were  too  long 
accustomed  to  reverses  to  despair  even  under  that  obsta- 
cle. Early  in  the  next  session  their  petition  was  pre- 
sented, as  usual,  by  Mr.  Grattan  in  the  Commons,  and 
Lord  Donoughmore  in  the  Lords.  The  majority  against 
going  into  committee  upon  it  was,  in  the  Commons,  153 ; 
in  the  Lords,  87.  Similar  motions  in  the  session  of  1810, 
made  by  the  same  parties,  were  rejected  by  majorities 
somewhat  reduced. 

In  the  debate  of  1808,  Mr.  Ponsonby  had  stated,  as 
Sir  John  Cox  Hippesley  did  three  years  before,  that  the 
Irish  bishops  were  willing  to  concede  "  a  veto "  to  the 
crown  in  future  appointments  to  their  order.  In  reply 
to  Mr.  Yorke,  (afterwards  Lord  Hardwicke,)  — 

'*  Mr.  Ponsonby  explained :  '  The  right  honorable  gen- 
"  tleman  is  perfectly  right  in  saying  that  the  subject  to 
''which  he  has  alluded  is  not  stated  in  the  petition; 
"  but  my  authority  is  derived  from  several  of  the  most 
"respectable  Catholics  in  Ireland.  I  have  had  conver- 
"  sation  with  Dr.  Milner,  one  of  the  Catholic  bishops  in 
"this  country,  appointed  to  act  here  for  the  Catholic 
"  bishops.  He  informed  me,  that  such  is  the  determina- 
"  tion ;  he  believes  that,  if  the  prayer  of  their  petition  be 
"  granted,  tbey  will  not  have  any  objection  to  make  the 
"  king,  virtually,  the  head  of  their  church ;  for  so  I  think 
"  he  must  become ;  and  that  no  man  shall  become  a 
"  Catholic  bishop  in  Ireland,  who  has  not  received  the 
"  approbation  of  his  majesty ;  and  that,  although  even 
"  appointed  by  tlie  pope,  if  disapproved  of  by  his  majesty, 
"  he  shall  not  be  allowed  to  act  or  take  upon  himself  his 
"  spiritual  functions ;  and  thus  in  succession,  if  his  majes- 
« ty  choose  to  object  to  any  bishop,  to  the  third,  fourth, 
25* 


294 


11 


ifi 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTAB^ilSH   THE 


"  or  fifth  nomination,  and  to  every  one.  as  he  shall 
**  please,  until  one  shall  be  appointed  that  meets  his 
<<  majesty's  approbation,  and  that  bishop,  and  that 
"  bishop  only,  to  receive  full  power.' 

"  Mr.  Yorke  asked  <  if  the  right  honorable  gentleman 
"  received  authority  to  make  this  communication  only 
"  from  Dr.  Milner,  or  from  the  body  of  the  Catholics.' 

"  Mr.  Ponsonby  replied,  *  that  he  had  stated  that  Dr. 
"  Milner  did  represent  the  Catholic  prelates  of  Ireland ; 
*<'and  that  he  had  given  to  the  house  the  assurance 
"  which  Dr.  Milner  had  given  him.' " 

It  is  certain  that  Dr.  Milner,  as  well  as  the  majority  of 
the  Irish  prelates,  was,  at  first,  favora,ble  to  such  a  con- 
cession to  the  crown.  It  was  the  mercy  of  Providence 
alone  that  averted  the  calamity  of  state  control.  The 
holy  father  was  in  exile,  and  the  sacred  college  unable 
and  unwilling  to  deal  decisively  with  so  grave  £1  ques- 
tion  in  his  absence.  Monseigneur  Quanantotti  had, 
indeed,  from  Pius  VII.,  very  full  powers  to  act  for  him 
during  his  exile ;  but  questions  concerning  the  episcopal 
order  were  especially  withheld  from  him.  Hence  the 
decided  tone  taken  by  the  Irish  prelates  in  their  resolu- 
tions of  the  15th  of  September,  1808,  against  the  veto, 
and  the  similar  tone  of  the  resolutions  of  February, 
1810,  and  of  August,  1815,  in  opposition  to  Monseigneur 
Quarantotti's  rescript  of  the  previous  year.  In  consider- 
ing the  history  of  the  Brish  church  in  those  days,  we 
should  always  remember  that  the  sovereign  pontiff  was 
an  exile  and  prisoner,  unable  to  direct  or  decide  their 
national  councils.  Much  that  seems  conflicting  in  their 
resolutions  can  only  be  accounted  for  in  this  way. 

Mr.  Ponsonby's  speech  excited  the  apprehension  of 
those  Catholics  who  had  overlooked  Sir  John  C.  Hippes- 
ley's.  Throughout  1808  and  1809,  the  Catholic  press 
teemed  with  latters,  arguments,  and  citations  against 
the  veto.  Letters  over  the  signatures  "  Sarsfield "  and 
"  Laicus,"  were  particularly  remarkable.  They  were 
generally  attributed  to  Messrs.  Scully  and  Clinch,  barris- 
ters, who,  like  O'Connell,  under  the  operation  of  the  act 
of  1793,  were  permitted  to  lead  a  public  life,  and  to  give 
a  legal  and  prudential  direction  to  the  efforts  of  their 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


2d5 


brethren.  The  discussion  could  not  be  kept  out  of  the 
committee,  particularly  when  the  change  of  opinion  was 
expressed  by  the  prelates,  in  September,"  1808.  Resolu- 
tions of  thanks  to  their  lordships  were  proposed  and  car- 
ried, against  a  protest  favorable  to  the  veto,  which  was 
signed  only  by  Lo|rd  Fingd  and  four  others.  After  the 
bishops'  meeting  of  Febniary,  1810,  the  Most  Rev.  Dr. 
Murr9,y  attended  the  meeting  of  the  general  committee, 
on  the  2d  of  March,  and  read  to  them  "  a  written  com- 
munication from  the  prelates  of  Ireland,"  reaffirming  the 
resolutions  of  1808.  A  fervent  vote  of  thanks  was  passed 
to  the  prelates  and  Dr.  Murray,  and  another  to  Daniel 
O'Connell,  Esq.,  "for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  Secretary."  Lord  Ffrench  (the  same  who  had  been 
delegated  to  the  king  in  1793)  was  chairman  at  this 
meeting. 

In  May,  1809,  the  committee  had  been  rearranged,  and 
its  constitution  enlarged.  By  a  series  of  resolutions  then 
passed,  it  was  agreed  that  the  Catholic  peers,  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  delegates  of  1793,  the  committee  which 
managed  the  petitions  of  1805  and  1807,  and  such  per- 
sons "  as  shall  distinctly  appear  to  them  to  possess  the 
confidence  of  the  Catholic  body,"  do  form  the  general 
committee.  It  was  proposed  by  O'Connell,  to  avoid 
*'the  convention  act,"  "that  the  noblemen  and  gen- 
tlemen aforesaid  are  not  representatives  of  the  Cath- 
olic body,  or  any  portion  thereof."  The  committee 
were  authorized  to  collect  funds  for  defraying  expenses ; 
a  treasurer  was  chosen,  and  a  permanent  secretary,  Mr. 
Edward  Hay,  of  Wexford.  The  new  committee  acted 
with  great  judgment  in  1810,  but  in  1811  Lord  Fingal 
and  h  3  friends  projected  a  genera'  assembly  of  the  lead- 
ing Catholics,  contrary  to  the  con-  tion  act,  and  to  the 
resolution  just  cited.  O'Connell  i^pposed  this  propo- 
sition; the  assembly  met,  and  were  dispersed  by  the 
authorities.  The  chairman.  Lord  Fingal,  and  Drs. 
Sheridan  and  -Kirwan,  secretaries,  were  arrested.  The 
former  was  not  tried,  the  latter  were  tried  and  a6quitted. 
The  wisdom  of  O'  Connell  was  thenceforward  considered 
equal  to  his  eloquence,  and,  on  good  old  John  Keogh's 


296 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


death,  he  became,  eipphatically,  the  leader  of  the  whole 
movement.  To  get  rid  of  the  odor  of  illegality,  the  com- 
mittee dissolved,  and  reassembled  as  **the  Catholic 
board'' — the  name  which  it  continued  to  keep  until  dis- 
membered by  the  veto  struggle,  some  seven  years  later. 

The  desire  for  the  veto  had  taken  strong  hold  upon 
English  statesmen.*  The  favor  with  which  the  first 
mention  of  it  in  Parliament  was  received  betokened  a 
foregone  conclusion.  "  The  effect  produced  in  favor  of 
"  the  Catholic  cause,"  according  to  Mr.  Charles  Butler, 
"  by  what  was  said  in  both  houses  of  Parliament,  of  the 
*'  willingness  of  the  Catholic  prelates  of  Ireland  to  accede 
"  to  the  veto,  was  very  great ;  even  their  most  determined 
''  adversaries  seemed  to  consider  that  it  had  gained  them 
*^  their  cause.  This  was  the  general  language  within  the 
"walls  of  Parliament;  the  first  expression  which  any 
"  Catholic  heard  from  his  Protestant  acquaintance  was 
"  a  congratulation  .on  the  turn  of  the  debate,  and  the 
"event  which  occasioned  it."f  The  same  writer  — 
a  constant  partisan  of  the  veto — Iremarks,  "As  soon 
"  as  their  actual  rejection  of  it  was  known,  it  was  evident 
"that  the  mention  of  it  in  Parliament  had,  in  conse- 
"  quence  of  this  rejection,  become  the  most  unfortunate 
"circumstance  which  had  befallen  the  Catholics  since 
**  they  had  been  suitors  to  the  legislature  for  relief.  It 
"  may  be  said,  with  the  greatest  truth,  that  it  was  a  mat- 


^  •  In  Burke's  letter  to  Lord  Kenmare,  (written  in  1782,)  he  says, 
**  Before  I  had  written  thus  far,  I  heard  of  a  scheme  of  giving  to  the  castle 
the  patronage  of  the  presiding  members  of  the  Catholic  clergy."  The 
reinunder  c^  the  letter  is  occupied  with  an  able  exposition  of  the  evUs 
whicM  would  spring  fix>m  such  an  error.  ••  Whoever,"  writes  the  sage, 
« is  complained  against  by  his  brother,  wi^  be  considetied  persecuted ; 
whoever  is  censured  by  his  superior  wUl  be  looked  upon  as  oppressed ; 
whoever  is  careless  in  nis  opinions,  and  loose  in  his  morals,  wiU  be  called 
a  liberal  man,  and  will  be  supposed  to  have  incurred  hatred  because  he 
was  not  a  bigot."  How  true  aU  this  is,  observers  of  the  recent  dealings 
of  the  state  with  the  church,  in  Ireland,  can  testify.  The  passage  in 
Burke  fixes  the  first  conception  of  the  veto,  as  a  measure  of  policy,  at 
the  year  1782.  Twenty-five  years  earlier,  the  Stuarts  had  ceased  to  be 
considted  on  episcopal  appointments  at  Rome.  The  fact  that  they  had 
been  so  consulted  was  still  remembered,  and  probably  suj^sted  the  de- 
sign to  the  advisers  of  George  III. 
t  Butler's  Memoirs  of  the  Catholics,  voL  iv.  p.  102. 


PROTESTANT    REFO|lMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


297 


**ter  of  triumph  to  all  the  enemies,  and  a  matter  of 
"  concern  to  all  the  friends  of  Catholic  emancipation."  * 
Short-sighted  triumph  of  the  enemy !  The  act  of  the 
Irish  prelates,  in  18i)8,  was  a  priceless  victory  won  by 
religicti  in  that  empire.  Judged  by  the  after  exjierience 
of  half  a  century,  it  is  to  be  placed  far  above  the  victo- 
ries of  1793  and  1829,  in  real  importance. 

Defeated  at  Dublin,  the  vetoists  still  sixbve  to  ingraft 
their  own  conditions  on  the  Catholic  claims.  In  all  their 
parliamentary  speeches,  they  continued  to  speak  of  it  as 
an  indispensable  security  due  to  the  crown ;  they  even 
affected  to  think,  that,  if  once  embodied  into  law,  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  would  gradually  submit  to  it.  That 
Grattan  and  Canning,  in  the  session  of  1812,  confident- 
ly repeated  this  assertion,  notwithstanding  the  several 
declarations  of  the  Irish  prelates  to  the  contrary,  shows 
how  hard  it  is,  how  impossible,  indeed,  for  the  best  dis- 
posed Protestant  to  comprehend  the  Catholic  sense  of 
right  and  wrong.  Private  judgment  is  the  natural  parent 
and  governor  of  expediency ;  an  invincible  faith  guides 
the  lives  of  men  by  paths  and  over  obstacles  from  which 
the  hardiest  Protestantism  would  shrink  back  terrified 
and  discomfited.  Few  cases  in  history  are  more  illus- 
trative of  this  truth  than  the  events  about  the  veto  which 
transpired  in  the  years  1813,  1814,  and  1815. 

"  On  the  22d  of  June,  1812,  Mr.  Canning  moved  a 
*'  resolution,  that  '  the  house  would,  early  in  the  next 
<'  session  of  Parliament,  take  into  its  most  serious  con- 
*'  sideration  the  state  of  the  laws  affecting  his  majesty'* 
■"  Roman  Catholic  subjects  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
^'land,  with  a  view  to  such  a  final  and  conciliatory 
*'  adjustment*  as  might  be  conducive  to  the  peace  and 
^'  strength  of  the  United  Kingdom,  to  the  stability  of  the 
*'  Protestant  establishment,  and  to  the  general  satisfac- 
*'  tion  and  concord  of  all  classes  of  his  majesty's  sub- 
"jects.' 

"  He  introduced  his  motion  by  an  excellent  speech,  in 
"  which,  with  the  force  and  eloquence  habitual  to  him, 

*  Btttler^  Memoirs  ot  the  Catholics,  vol.  iv.  p.  164. 


m 


nr 


298 


ATTEMPTS   TO  ESTABLISH   THE 


*^  he  established  tjvee  positions :  1.  That  all  citizens  of 
"  the  same  state,  Uving  under  the  same  goverijment,  are 
*^  entitled,  primA  faciei  to  equal  political  rights  and  priv* 
"  ileges ;  3.  That  it  is,  at  all  times,  desirable  to  create 
<^ana  maintain  the  most  perfect  identity  of  interest 
",  and  feeling  among  all  the  members  of  the  same  com- 
"  munity ;  3.  That,  where  there  exists,  in  any  commu- 
*^  nity,  a  great  permanent  ce.use  of  political  discontent, 
*^  which  agitates  the  minds  of  men,  without  having  any 
*'  tendency  to  subside  of  itself,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the 
*^  supreme  power  in  the  state  to  determine  in  what  mode 
*'  it  may,  most  advantageously,  be  set  at  rest.  An  inter- 
'<  esting  debate  ensued ;  Lord  Castlereagh  made  a  liberal 
"  declaration  in  favor  of  the  proposed  inquiry  respecting 
*Hhe  Catholics.  On  a  division,  Mr.  Canning's  motion 
*<  was  carried  by  the  decisive  majority  of  235  votes  to 
"106. 

<*  In  the  House  of  Lords,  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  on 
*^  the  1st  of  the  following  July,  made  a  motion  similar  to 
^Hhat  of  Mr.  Canning.  The  previous  question  was 
"  moved  upon  it  by  the  lord  chancellor,  and  there,  being 
*<  126  votes  for  it  and  125  against  it,  the  chancellor's 
"  motion  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  one. 
*  "  Under  these  auspicious  circumstances,  the  memorable 
**  campaign  of  1813,  for  Catholic  emancipation,  began. 
"  It  was  opened  on  the  25th  of  February,  by  Mr.  wat- 
"  tan's  motion,  *  that  the  house  will  resolve  itself  into  a 
«  committee  of  the  whole  house,*  to  take  into  its  most 
"  serious  consideration  the  state  of  the  laws  affecting 
«*  the  Roman  Catholic  subjects  in  Great  Britain  and 
"  Ireland,  with  r,  view  to  such  a  final  and  conciliatory 
*<  adjustment  as  nfiay  be  conducive  to  the  peace  and 
^<  strength  of  the  United  Kingdom,  to  the  stability  of  the 
*^  Protestant  establishment,  and  to  the  general  satisfac- 
<<  tion  and  concord  of  all  classes  of  his  majesty's  sub- 
"jects.'  After  a  debate  of  four  days,  a  division  took 
"  place  upon  Mr.  Grattan's  motion ;  it  was  carried  by  a 
"majority  of  forty  —  there  being  264  votes  for  it,  and 
«  224  against  it. 

"  This  point  being  gained,  though  by  a  hard  contest- 


PROTBBTANT  RBPORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


299 


aid  contest- 


*<  Mr.  Grattan,  on  March  9th,  moved  the  order  of  the  day 
*'  for  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  on  the  Catholic 
**  question.  When  this  was  formed,  he  rose,  and,  after 
'*  some  preliminary  observations,  said  that  he  intended 
**to  propose  resolutions:  1st,  That  the  Catholic  disa- 
<*  biliti^s  should  be  removed ;  and,  2dly,  That  the  estab- 
*^  lishments  in  church  and  state  ought  to  be  effectually 
** secured;  and  afterwards,  to  propose  regulations  for 
*Hhe  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  other  matters,  and  an 
*'  oath  against  foreign  influence.'^  * 

Grattan's  bill,  with  Canning's  amendments,  after  a 
severe  handling  in  committee,  was  committed,  ordered 
to  be  printed,  and  read  a  second  time  on  the  11th  of 
May.    The  following  analysis  of  it  is  worthy  of  study  :— 

"  The  bill  recited,  that  *  the  Protestant  succession  to 
"  the  crown  was,  by  the  act  for  the  further  limitation  of 
"  the  crown,  and  the  better  securing  the  liberties  of  the 
"  people,  established  permanently  and  inviolably. 

"  *  That  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  of  England 
"  and  Jreland,  and  the  doctrine,  discipline,  and  govern- 
"ment  thereof,  and  likewise  the  Protestant  church  of 
"  Scotland,  and  the  doctrine,  discipline,  and  government 
"  thereof,  were  established  permanently  and  inviolably. 

"  *  That  it  would  promote  the  interest  of  the  same,  and 
"  strengthen  our  free  constitution,  of  which  they  are  the 
^'  essential  part,  if  the  civil  and  military  disqualifications, 
"under  which  his  majesty's  Roman  Catholic  subjects 
"  now  labor,  were  removed.  ' 

"  *  And  that,  after  due  consideration  of  the  petitions  of 
"  the  said  Roman  Catholics,  it  appeared  highly  advisa- 
"  ble  to  communicate  to  them  the  blessings  of  our  free 
"  form  of  government ;  and,  with  that  view,  to  put  an 
"end  to  all  religious  jealousies  between  his  majesty's 
"subjects,  and  to  bury  in  oblivion  all  animosiities  be- 
"tween  England  and  Ireland,  so  that. the  advantage  of 
"  the  respective  countries  might  be  bound  together  in  all 
"time  to  come,  by  the  same  privileges,  and  the  same 
"interest,  in   defence  of  their  common    liberties   and 

*  Butler'8  Memoirs  of  the  Catholics,  yoL  iy.  pp.  236-238. 


;.  '*;. 


^■'?:l 


m 


1 1 


300 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


« government,  against  all  the  enemies  of  the  British 
"  empire.' 

'<  The  act  then  authorized  Roman  Catholics  to  sit  and 
"  vote  in  either  house  of  Parliament,  upon  taking  the 
*^  oath  prescribed  by  the  act,  instead  of  the  oarths  of  alle- 
"giance,  abjuration,  and  supremacy,  and  instead  of 
**  making  and  8ubf?cribing  the  declaration  against  tran- 
^^  substantiation,  and  the  declaration  against  the  invoca- 
"  tion  of  saints,  now  required  of  them.  The  oath  was 
'<  chiejfly  formed  from  the  oath^  in  the  acts,  passed  for  the 
"relief  of  the  Catholics  in  1791  and  1793. 

"  The  bill  then  provided  that  it  should  be  lawful  for 
"  Catholics  to  hold  all  civil  and  military  offices,  and  aU 
*<  places  of  trust  and  profit,  except  the  office  of  lord  high 
"  chancellor,  lord  keeper,  or  lord  commissioners  of  tKe 
"  great  seal  of  Great  Britain,  or  lord  lieutenant,  or  lord 
"  deputy,  or  other  chief  governor  of  Ireland,  upon  making 
*^  and  subscribing  the  foregoing  declaration  and  oath, 
"instead  of  the  oath  and  declaration  against  transub- 
"  stantiation,  and  the  declaration  against  the  invocation 
"  of  saints,  or  taking  the  sacrament  of  our  Lord's  slipper. 

"  It  also  enabled  Catholics  to  be  members  of  any  lay 
"  body  corporate ;  and  to  hold  any  civil  office  or  place 
"  of  trust  and  profit  in  it,  upon  taking  and  subscribing 
"  the  declaration  and  oath  required  by  the  act,  instead 
"  of  the  oaths  and  declarations  now  required,  or  taking 
"  the  sacranient. 

"  But  the  act  excluded  them  from  all  offices  and 
"places  in  the  churches  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Eng- 
"  land  ««nd  Ireland,  or  Scotland,  or  in  the  courts  of-eccle- 
"  siastical  judicature  within  the  realm,  or  belonging  to 
"  any  cathedral,  collegiate,  or  ecclesiastical  foundation, 
"  or  tp  any  of  the  universities,  or  to  Eton,  Westminster, 
"  or  Winchester,  or  to  any  college  or  school  of  ecclesias- 
"tical  or  royal  foundation;  and  from  presenting  to 
"  ecclesiastical  benefices. 

"  It  also  provided .  that  it  should  not  be  lawful  for 
"  Catholics  to  advise  the  crown,  in  the  appointment  or 
"  disposal  of  any  ecclesiastical  office  or  preferment. 

**  Persons  exercising  any  of  the  spiritual  duties  or 


PR0TB8TANT   RBPORMATION   IN   IRBLAND. 


801 


''/im'Wii 


'm 


**  functions  exercised  by  Catholics  in  holy  orders  were 
<'  required  to  take  an  oath,  by  which  they  swore  not  to 
''consent  to  the  appointment  or  consecration  of  any 
'<  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  or  vicar  apostolic,  whom  they 
^  should  not  deem  to  be  of  unimpeachable  loyalty,  and 
<'  peaceable  conduct,  and  not  to  hold  any  correspondence 
<'  with  the  pope  or  see  of  Rome,  or  its  courts  or  tribunals, 
"  tending  airectly  or  indirectly  to  overthrow  or  disturb 
"  the  Protestant  government,  or  the  Protestant  church, 
«  or  on  any  matter  not  merely  spiritual. 

'*  No  persons  born  out  of  the  United  Kingdom,  or  its 
"dominions,  except  persons  born  of  British  or  Irish 
"  parents,  and  no  persons  who  had  not  resided  within 
"  the  same  during  the  term  therein  mentioned,  were  to 
*'  exercise  episcopal  functions,  under  the  penalty  therein 
"  mentioned ;  and  were  rendered  liable  to  be  sent  out  of 
<'  the  kingdom. 

"  Such  was  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  his  majesty's  Cath- 
"  olic  subjects,  which  was  brought  into  Parliament  by 
«  Mr.  Grattan."  * 

Canning's  amendments  were  equally  important. 

"  The  first  appointed  a  certain  number  of  commis- 
"  sioners,  who  were  to  profess  the  Catholic  religion,  and 
"  to  be  lay  peers  of  Great  Britain  or  Scotland,  possessing 
"  a  freehold  estate  of  one  thousand  pounds-  :  year ;  to  be 
"  filled  up,  from  time  to  time,  by  his  majesty,  feis  heirs, 
"or  successors.  The  commissioners  wert  to  take  an 
"  oath  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  office,  and  the 
"observance  of  secrecy  in  all  matters  not  thereby  re- 
"  quired  to  be  disclosed,  with  power  to  appoint  a  secre- 
"  tary  with  a  salary,  (proposed  to  be  five  hundred  pounds 
"  a  year,)  payable  out  of  the  consolidated  fund.  The 
"  secretary  was  to  take  an  oath  similar  to  that  of  the 
"  commissioners. 

"  It  was  then  provided,  that  every  person  elected  to 
"  the  discharge  of  Roman  Catholic  episcopal  functions 
"  in  Great  Britain  or  Scotland  should,  previously  to  the 
"  discharge  of  his  office,  notify  his  then  election  to  the 


*  Butler's  Memoirs  of  the  Catholics,  vol.  iv.  pp.  241-244. 
26 


803 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


^secretary;  that  the  secretary  should  notify  it  to  the 
**  commissioners)  and  they  to  the  privy  council,  with  a 
^certificate  Hhat  they  did  not  know  or  believe  any 
**  thing  of  the  person  nominated,  which  tended  to  im- 
**  peach  his  loyalty  or  peaceable  conduct ; '  unless  they 
**  had  knowledge  of  the  contrary,  in  which  case  they 
*<  should  refuse  their  certificate.  Persons  obtaining  such 
"  a  certificate  were  rendered  capable  of  exercising  epis- 
**  copal  functions  within  the  United  Kingdom ;  if  they 
**  exercised  them  without  a  certificate,  they  were  to  be 
**  considered  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  liable  to  be 
**  sent  out  of  the  lungdom. 

<*  Similar  provisions  respecting  Irelarid  were  then  in- 
"  troduced. 

*<  The  second  set  of  clauses  was  suggested  by  Lord 
<*  Castlereagh,  and  provided  that  the  commissioners  un- 
**  der  the  preceding  clauses  —  with  the  addition,  as  to 
*♦  Great  Britain,  of  the  lord  chancellor,  or  lord  keeper,  or 
"  first  commissioner  of  the  great  seal  -for  the  time  being, 
**  and  of  one  of .  his  majesty's  principal  secretaries  of 
"  state,  being  a  Protestant,  or  such  other  Protestant 
"  member  of  his  majesty's  privy  council  as  his  majesty 
"should  appoint — and  with  a  similar  addition  in  re- 
"  spect  to  Ireland  —  and  with  the  further  addition,  as  to 
"  Great  Britain,  of  the  person  then  exercising  episcopal 
"  functions  among  the  Catholics  in  London  — *  and,  in 
"respect  to  Ireland,  of  the  titular  Roman  Catholic  Arch- 
"  bishops  of  Armagh  and  Dublin,  —  should  be  commis- 
"  sioners  for  the  purposes  thereinafter  mentioned. 

"  The  commissioners  thus  Uppointed  were  to  take  an 
<*  oath  for  the  discharge  of  their  office,  and  observance 
"  of  secrecy,  similar  to  the  former,  and  employ  the  same 
**  secretary,  and  three  of  them  Were  to  form  a  quorum. 

"'The  bill  then  provided,  that  subjects  of  his  majesty, 
"  receiving  any  bull,  dispensation,  or  other  instrument, 
"  from  the  see  of  Rome,  or  any  person  m  foreign  parts, 
"  acting  under  the  authority  of  that  see,  should,  wij;hin 
"  six  weeks,  send  a  copy  of  it,  signed  with  his  name,  to 
"  the  secretary  of  the  commissioners,  who  should  trans- 
"  mit  the  same  to  them. 


PJROTBITANT   RBFORMATION   IN   IKBLAND. 


303 


ere  then  in* 


",But  with  a  proviso,  that  if  the  person  receiving  the 
<'  same  should  deliver  to  the  secretary  of  the  commission, 
^  within  the  time  before  prescribed,  a  writing,  under  his 
'<  hand,  certifying  the  fact  of  his  having  received  such  a 
«  bull,  dispensation,  or  other  instrument,  and  accompa- 
« nying  his  certificate  with  an  oath,  declaring  that  <  it 
<<  related,  whoUv  and  exclusively,  to  spiritual  concerns, 
>^  and  that  it  did  not  contain,  or  refer  to,  any  matter  or 
<^  thing  which  did  or  could,  directly  or  indirectly,  affect 
<^or  interfere  with  the  duty  and  allegiance  which  he 
<<  owed  to  his  •majesty's  sacred  person  and  government, 
'^  or  with  the  temporal,  civil,  or  social  rights,  properties, 
"  or  duties  of  any  other  of  his  majesty's  subjects,'  then 
<*  the  commissioners  were,  in  their  discretion,  to  receive 
<'  such  certificate  and  oath,  in  lieu  of  the  copy  of  the 
<*  bull,  dispensation,  or  other  instrument. 

*<  Persons  conforming  to  these  provisions  were  to  be 
^  exempted  from  all  pains  and  penalties,  to  which  they 
<'  would  be  liable  under  the  existing  statutes ;  otherwise, 
'*  they  were  to  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor ; 
'*and  in  lieu  of  the  pains  and  penalties,  under  the 
"  former  statutes,  be  liable  to  be  sent  out  of.  the  king- 
"  dom. 

**  The  third  set  of  clauses  provided  that,  within  a  time 
''  to  be  specified,  the  commissioners  were  to  meet  and 
"appoint  their  secretary,  and  give  notice  of  it  to  his 
"  majesty's  principal  secretaries  of  state  in  Great  Britain 
"  and  Ireland ;  and  the  provisions  of  the  act  were  to  be 
"  in  force  firom  that  time."  * 

On  the  second  reading,  «n  May,  the  committee  of  Par- 
liament, on  motion  of  the  speaker,  then  on  the  floor, 
struck  out  the  clause  enabling  Catholics  ^*  to  sit  and  vote 
in  either  house  of  Parliament,"  by  a  majority  of  four 
votes:  251  against  247.  Mr.  Ponsonby  immediately 
rose,  and,  observing  that,  as  "the  bill,  without  the 
clause,"  was  unworthy  both  of  the  Catholics  and  its 
authors,  he  moved  the  chairman  do  leave  the  ch&ir. 
The  committee  rose,  without  a  division,  and  the  bill  of 
1813  was  happily  abandoned. 

*  Butler's  Memoin  of  the  Catholios*  vol  hr.  pp.  246-249. 


304 


ATTEMPTS  TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


The  defeat  of  this  measure  was  very  differently  re* 
ceived  in  London  and  Dublin.  The  English  Catholics 
were  unfortunately  divided  into  two  parties  —  the  Cisal- 
pine club,  representing  the  Oallicans,  and  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Dr.  Milner,  famous  as  a  controversial  writer,  the  other. 
The  former,  composed  chiefly  of  the  gentry,  was  favored 
by  <  the  three  remaining  vicars  apostolic,  Drs.  Poynter, 
Collingridge,  and  Douglas.  Mr.  Charles  Butler,  a  near 
relative  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Alban  Butler,  was  their 
counsellor  and  pensman.  They  were  as  mischievous  a 
set  xj^  well-meaning  men  as  ever  came  together,  wise  in 
their  own  conceit.  Learning,  fortune,  and  talent  were  to 
be  found  amongst  them ;  but  compromise,  timidity,  and 
egotism  were  also  there.  Immediately  after  the  rejection 
of  the  bill  of  1813,  the  Cisalpinea,  in  the  English  board, 
voted  their  thanks  to  its  authors,  and  in  another  resolu- 
tion resolved  to  persevere  in  their  efforts.  Dr.  Milner, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  circulated  a  memorial  against 
the  proposed  measure  during  its  discussion,  and  after  its 
defeat  had  charged  its  authorship  upon  *'  certain  false 
Catholic  brethren."  When  asked,  at  the  board,  to  whom 
he  alluded  in  that  publication,  he  answered,  to  Mr.  But- 
ler :  upon  this  the  board  voted,  that  <'  the  charge  just 
made  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Milner  against  Mr.  Butler  was 
a  gross  calumny  ;"  that  Mr.  Butler  "was  entitled  to  the 
thanks  and  gratitude  of  the  general  board  of  British 
Catholics ; "  and,  proceeding  still  further,  that,  "  under 
present  circumstances,  it  was  highly  expedient  that  the 
Bt.  Rev.  Dr.  Milner  should  cease  to  be  a  member  of  the 
board."  This  indignity  to  one  of  the  most  venerable 
and  gifted  bishops  in  Britain  was  a  foretaste  of  what 
Canning's  board  of  laymen  might  have  provided  for 
the  hierarchy  to  be  submitted  to  them,  had  not  four  votes 
defeated  the  bill  of  1813.  So  wonderful  are  the  ways 
of  God! 

In  Ireland,  the  conduct  of  the  Catholics,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  score  or  two  of  the  aristocracy,  was  very 
different.  Dr.  Milner,  at  this  time  their  agent,  was  voted 
the  most  marked  thanks'  of  the  Irish  prelates  for  "  his 
late  sLpostolic  firmness ''  in  ^<  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 


PR0TB8TANT   RBPORMATION   IN  IMLAND. 


205 


er,  was  their 


duty/*  On  the  other  hand)  Mr.  Grattan,  as  a  chief  pro- 
moter of  thf'  bill,  was  bitterly  denoanoed.  An  election 
occurring  in  tliat  year,  he  was  returned,  without  opposi- 
tion, for  the  city  of  Dublin ;  but  on  being  chaired  through 
the  streets,  the  {)oorer  Catholics  rose  in  a  mob,  assailed 
his  bearers,  and  pelted  him  with  stones,  one  of  which 
drew  blood  Irom  his  face.  He  was  obliged  to  take  sud* 
den  refuse  from  the,  storm,  while  (O,  strange  reverse!) 
Mr.  Charles  Phillips,  from  the  balcony  of  his  prison, 
pleaded  for  protection  for  Heilry  Grattan !  Since  Jupi- 
ter Capitoliuus  was  preserved  by  the  Roman  geese,  there 
was  seldom  seen  such  a  contrast  between  guardian  and 
ward !  To  the  honor  of  Grattan, «-  who  is  always  to 
be  judged  as  a  Protestant,  -s*  he  never  uttered  a  word  of 
complaint,  and  in  his  future  efforts  in  the  same  cause, 
be  wisely  avoided  the  former  rock  of  offence.  His  con- 
duct in  this  respect  contrasted  favorably  with  Hippes- 
ley's,  who,  finding  the  veto  could  not  be  carried,  became 
a  zealous  enemy  of  the  Catholic  claims. 

Untaught  by  the  example  of  Grattan,  Richard  Lalor 
Shiel  entered  the  Cathohc  board,  and  on  the  10th  of 
December,  1813,  —  being  then  but  twenty-three  years 
old,  —  made  his  first  speech,  in  defence  of  the  veto.  He 
was  opposed  by  O'ConneU  and  Dr.  Dromgoole;  and. 
some  years  later,  he  publicly  retracted  the  unconsidered 
sentimentit  of  his  youth.  Notwithstanding  his  first  false 
step,  the  Catholic  body  cherished  for  his  courage,  genius, 
and  person  an  affection  exceeded  only  by  that  they  ren- 
dered to  O*  Council. 

The  English  vetoists,  encouraged  by  their  "  liberal " 
allies,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  make  interest  for  their 
pioject  at  Rome.  The  Rt  Rev.  Dr.  Poynter  had  sub- 
mitted to  Monseigneur  Quarantotti  their  views  and 
wishes,  while  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  had  forwarded 
the  opposite  opinions  of  the  Irish  prelates.  A  rescript  to 
Dr.  Poynter,  dated  February  16, 1814,  was  issued,  which, 
from  its  historical  importance,  we  transcribe  in  part. 
Monseigneur  Quarantotti. wrote  as  follows  :— 

"  Most  illustrious  and  right  reverend  Lord,  — 

**  With  ereat  pleasure  we  have  learned  that  a  bill  for 

26' 


I; 


1; 

1^ 

1 

! 

r 

t 

Wm 

V 

t- 

1 

306 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


Pill 


"  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics  of  your  flourishing 
*'  kingdom  from  penal  laws,  which  was  proposed  in  the 
"  last  year,  and  lost  by  a  small  minority,  may  probably 
"  be  again  presented  in  this  session  of  Parliament.  It  is 
*<  our  ardent  wish  that  this  act,  so  much  desired,  may  at 
*'  length  be  passed ;  and  that  the  Catholics,  who  have 
"  ever  given  such  distinguished  proofs  of  their  obedience 
"  and  fidelity,  may  at  length  be  delivered  from  the  heavy 
"  yoke  by  which  they  have  so  long  been  oppressed ;  -and 
"  that,  without  any  detriment  to  their  honors  or  estates, 
"  they  may  give  full  scope  to  those  exertions  which  both 
"religion  and  the  good  of  their  country  require  of  them. 
"  And  this  may  be  surely  expected  from  your  most  be- 
"  neficent  sovereign,  and  from  that  illustrious  nation, 
•*  which  on  former  occasions,  and  especially  in  these  lat- 
"  ter  times,  has  acquired  so  much  glory  in  4;he  estimation 
"  of  the  whole  world  for  its  equity,  prudence,  and  other 
"  virtues.  And  since  it  has  been  represented,  that  among 
"  the  bishops  certain  questions  and  differences  have 
"  arisen,  relative  to  the  conditions  on  which  the  Catholics 
"  are  to  be  placed  on  an  equality  With  their  fellow-sub- 
"  jects,  w^y  who,  in  the  absence  of  the  supreme  pastor, 
"  are  placed  over  the  concerns  of  the  sacred  missions, 
"  and,  for  that  purpose,  are  invested  with  full  pontifical 
"  powers,  have  thought  it  incumbent  on  us  to  remove 
•'  every  ambiguity  and  obstacle  which  might  impede  so 
"  desirable  a  conciliation,  and  by  the  authority',  and  con- 
"  sent  of  the  holy  see,  to  supply  such  facfulties  as  do  not 
"  come  within  the  ordinary  limits  of  episcopal  jurisdic- 
"  tion.  Having,  therefore,  taken  the  advice  of  the  most 
"  learned  prelates  and  divines,  having  examined  the  let- 
*'  ters  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  both  by  your 
"  lordship  and  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  the  mat- 
"  ter  having  been  maturely  discussed  in  a  special  congre- 
"  gation,  it  is  decreed,  that  the  Catholics  may,  with  sat- 
"  isfaction  and  gratitude,  accept  and  embrace  the  bill 
"  which  was  last  year  presented  for  their  emancipation, 
"  in  the  form  in  which  your  lordship  has  laid  it  before 
"  us.  One  point  only  requires  some  explanation ;  and 
**  that  is  the  second  part  of  the  oath,  by  which  the  clergy 


^  - 


/  1! 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


307 


"  is  so  restrained  as  not  to  be  permitted  to  hold  any  cor- 
"  respondence  with  the  sovereign  pontiff  and  his  minis- 
"  ters,  which  may,  directly  or  indirectly,  subvert,  or  in 
"  any  way  disturb,  the  Protestant  government  or  church. 
"  It  is  evidently,  by  divine  authority,  the  special  duty  of 
"  the  ministers  of  the  church  every  where  to  propagate 
"  the  Catholic  faith,  (the  only  faith  which  can  lead  to 
"  eternal  felicity,)  and  to  refute  erroneous  doctrines. 
"  This  is  taught  by  the  precepts  of  thfe  gospel,  and  by 
"  the  example  of  the  apostles  and  their  successors.  Now, 
"  should  a  Catholic  convert  any  Protestant  to  the  ortho- 
«  dox  religion,  he  might  be  deemed  guilty  of  perjury ; 
"  as,  by  such  conversion,  he  might  seem,  in  some  sort,  to 
"  disturb  the  Protestant  church.  .Understood  in  this 
"  sense,  the  oath  cannot  lawfully  be  taken,  as  being  re- 
"  pugnant  to  the  Catholic  faith.  K,  on  the  other  hand, 
"  it  be  the  meaning  of  the  legislators,  that  the  minis- 
"  ters  of  the  Catholic  church  are  not  forbidden  to  preach, 
"  instruct,  and  give  counsel,  but  are  only  prohibited  from 
"  disturbing  the  Protestant  church  or  government  by  vio- 
"  lence  and  arms,  or  evil  artifices  of  whatever  kind,  this 
"  is  just,  and  entirely  consonant  to  our  principles. 

"  To  you,  therefore,  it  belongs,  with  all  humility  and 
"  earnestness,  to  supplicate  the  high  court  of  Parliament, 
"  that  in  order  to  quiet  and  secure  the  consciences  of  the 
"  Catholic;  clergy,  it  will  affix  some  modification  or  decla- 
"  ration  to  this  clause  in  the  oath ;  which,  removing  every 
"  ambiguity,  may  leave  them  the  liberty  peacefully  to 
"  preach  and  to  persuade.  In  case  the  bill  be  already 
"  passed,  containing  the  same  words,  or  that  nothing  in 
"  it  is  allowed  to  be  altered,  let  the  clergy  acquiesce ;  and 
"  it  will  be  sufficient  for  them  publicly  to  declare,  that 
"  this,  and  this  only,  is  the  sense  in  which  they  have 
"  sworn  to  it,  so  that  nothing  in  the  oath  may  be  adverse 
"  to  orthodox  doctrine ;  and,  that  this  protest  may  be 
"  generally  known,  and  be  for  an  example  to  posterity, 
"  this  construction  of  it  shall  be  publicly  recorded.  It 
"  were  to  be  wished,  likewise,  if  it  can  be  obtained,  that 
"  a  declaration  should  be  made  by  some  of  the  members 
"  of  Parliament,  that  government  requires  the  oath  from 


308 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


*^  the  Catholic  clergy  in  this  sense,  and  no  other.  Other 
"  clauses,  which  you  mention  as  contained  in  the  same 
<*  bill,  may  be  submitted  to  by  the  indulgence  of  the 
**  apostolic  see. 

<*  That  the  king  should  desire  to  be  certified  of  the 
"  loyalty  of  such  as  are  promoted  to  a  bishopric  or  dean- 
"  ery,  and  should  be  assured  that  they  are  endowed  with 
*<  such  qualities  as  become  a  'good  subject ;  that,  to  in- 
<*  vestigate  these  particulars,  he  should  likewise  appoint  a 
"  committee  to  inquire  into  their  moral  conduct,  and 
'^  make  a  report  to  his  majesty,  as  your  lordship  has  given 
**  us  to  understand  is  the  case;Hhat,  for  this  very  same 
<<  reason,  the  king  should  require  that  foreigners,  and  those 
*<  likewise  who  have  not  resided  five  years  in  the  kingdom, 
*'  should  be  excluded  from  such  dignities:  all  this,  as 
"  it  regards  only  what  is  within  the  competence  of  civil 
"  authority,  may  be  deserving  of  every  toleration^  It  is 
<<  highly  proper  that  our  prelates  should  be  agreeable  and 
"  acceptable  to  the  king ;  that  they  should  exercise  their 
"  ministry  with  his  full  consent ;  in  fine,  that  their  probity 
"  should  be  evident  even  to  those  who  are  not  in  the 
"  bosom  of  the  church.  For  a  bishop  (as  the  apostle 
'<  teaches,  1st  Epistle  to  Timothy,  iii.  7)  should  have  a 
"  good  report  of  them  who  are  without.  On  these  accounts, 
"  by  the  authority  vested  in  us,  we  allow  that  those  who 
^  are  designed  for  a  bishopric  or  deanery,  and  are  pro- 
"  posed  by  .the  clergy,  be  admitted  or  rejected  by  the 
"  king,  according  to  the  proposed  bill.  Therefore,  after  the 
"  clergy  have,  in  the  usual  manner,  chosen  those  whom 
"  they  shall  have  judged  in  the  Lord  to  be  worthy  to  be 
"  exalted  to  those  dignities,  in  Ireland  the  metropolitan 
"  of  the  province,  in  England  and  Scotland  the  senior 
<'  apostolical  vicar,  shall  announce  them  to  the  committee 
^^  for  the  royal  approbation  or  dissent.  If  the  candidates 
"  be  rejected,  others  shall  be  proposed,  who  may  be 
"  pleasing  to  his  majesty;  but,  if  approved,  the  metropol- 
"  itan  or  apostolical  vicar,  as  above,  shall  send  the  act  of 
^  their  election  to  this  sacred  congregation,  which,  having 
"  weighed  with  care  the  merits  of  each  individual,  shall 
<<  apply  to  the  sovereign  pontiff  for  canonical  institution. 


•'.v 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


ao9 


her.  Other 
ill  the  same 
ence  of  the 

ified  of  the 
»ric  or  dean- 
dowed  with 

that,  to  in- 
36  appoint  a 
)nduct,  and 
ip  has  given 
s  very  same 
's,  and  those 
le  kingdom, 

all  this,  as 
ince  of  civil 
ition^  It  is 
nreeable  and 
xercise  their 
;heir  probity 

not  in  the 
the  apostle 
ould  have  a 
se  accounts, 
t  those  who 
nd  are  pro- 
3ted  by  the 
ore,  after  the 
those  whom 
/^orthy  to  be 
letropolitan 
I  the  senior 
5  committee 
t  candidates 
tio  may  be 
le  metropol- 
d  the  act  of 
liich,  having 
^idual,  shaU 
institution. 


«  We  observe,  likewise,  that  it  is  the  office  of  the  said 
(^  compittee  to  examine  any  letters  which  are  sent  to 
•"  any  of  the  clergy  of  Great  Britain  from  the  ecclesiastic 
«  cal  powers,  and  diligently  to  inquire  whether  anything 
^  be  contained  therein  which  may  be  obnoxious  to  the 
«  government,  or  in  any  way  disturb  the  public  tran- 
<*  quillity.  Since  communication  with  the  head  of  the 
"  church  in  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  concerns  is  not 
^  prohibited,  but  the  inspection  of  the  cotximittee  regards  • 
«  only  matters  of  civil  policy,  this  likewise  ought  to  be 
"  acquiesced  in.  It  is  good  that  the  government  should 
"  not  entertain  any  suspicion  concerning  our  commu- 
"  nications."  * 

When  this  rescript  was  made  public  by  Dr.  Poynter, 
the  Irish  were  again  alarmed.  At  that  critical  moment, 
the  holy  father  was  restored  to  his  city,  and  the  Catho- 
lics throughout  the  world  were  pouring  in  addresses  of 
congratulation.'  The  Irish  resolved  to  send  an  agent  to 
Rome,  and  chose  the  Rev.  Richard  Hayes,  a  ^Franciscan 
friar,  distinguished  for  his-  eloquence.  He  arrived  in 
Rome  towards  the  close  of  the  year,  but  after  a  stay  of 
some  weeks,  was  ordered  to  leave  the  city,  on  account 
of  certain  slighting  expressions  he  was  reported  to  have 
used  of  Cardinals  Litta  and  Quarantotti.t  The  Irish 
prelates  immediately  despatched  the  coadjutor  of  Dub- 

*  In  hia  examination  before  the  joint  committees  of  both  hoiues  of 
Parliament,  in  March,  1825,  right  Rev^.  Dr.  Doyle  gave  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  position  of  Monseigneur  Quarantotti  at  Rome.  It  was  asked, 
<*  Are  the  committee  to  imderstand  from  you  that  this  rescript  of  Quar> 
antotti's  did  not  come  from  the  see  of  Rome  \ "  Dr.  Doyle  answered, 
'*  It  did  come  from  the  see  of  Rome,  but  the  pope  of  that  time  was  a  pris- 
oner m  France,  and  he  vested  his  spiritual  jurisdiction  in  several  mdi- 
viduals  in  Rome,  first  in  one,  and  then  provisionally  in  others ;  so  that  in 
case  th6  first,  second,  and  third  happened  to  be  removed  by  the  French 
from  Rome,  some  person  might  remain  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the 
church :  the  first  individual,  and  I  believe  the  second,  who  were  entitled 
to  do  so,  were  removed  by  the  French.  This  Quarantotti,  who  was  an 
obscure  individual  at  the  time,  happened  to  remain ;  he  had  those  powers, 
and  began  to  exercise  them,  anc^  not  being  at  all  acquainted  with  our 
affairs,  gave  this  rescript  upon  an  application  being  made  to  him  by  some 
interested  person,  and  as  soon  as  we  received  it  we  protested  against  it." 

t  On  his  return  from  Rome,  Father  Hayes  was  present  at  a  Catholic 
meeting  in  Dublin,  where  the  following  event  occurred  :  On  the  reply 


310 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


lin,  Dr.  Murray,  as  their  agent,  but  eqqally  without  suc- 
cess. The  vetoists  still  insisted  that  Rome  was  with 
them.  Early  in  1815,  his  holiness  having  again  to  with- 
draw temporarily  from  Rome,  to  which  he  returned  after 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the  Lish  prelates  delayed  their 
further  action  until  August.  \[n  that  month  they  again 
met,  and  reappointed  Dr.  Murray  and  the  Bishop  of  Cork 
to  Rome.  A  part  of  their  instructions  was,  to  deliver 
the  holy  father  the  following  resolutions :  — 

^<  At  a  meeting  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Dublin, 
"  they  came  to  the  following  resolution :  that  *  it  is 
f'  our  decided  and  conscientious  conviction,  that  any 
"  power  granted  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  of  inter- 
"  fering  directly  or  indirectly  in  the  appointment  of  bish- 
*'  ops  for  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  Ireland,  must 
**  essentially  injure,  and  may  eventually  subvert,  the  Ro- 
"  man  Catholic  religion  in  this  country. 

"  *  That,  with  this  conviction  deeply  and  unalterably 
"  fixed  in  our  minds,  we  should  consider  ourselves  as 
"  betraying  the  dearest  interests  of  that  portion  of  the 
"  church  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  committed  to  our 
"  care,  did  we  not  declare  most  unequivocally,  that  we 
"  will,  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  deprecate 
**  and  oppose,  in  every  canonical  and  constitutional  way, , 
"  any  such  interference. 

of  the  pontiff  to  the  remonstrance  of  the  Catholic  body  being  read  to  the 
meeting  Mr.  Hayes  rose,  and  spoke  thus  in  relation  to  the  censure  it 
contained  of  his  own  course  in  the  Eternal  City: —  * 

**  By  faith  a  Catholic,  by  ordination  a  priest,  by  obedience  a  child  of 
the  holy  see,  I  bow  with  unhesitating  submission,  respect,  and  venera- 
tion to  the  centre  of  Catholicism  and  source  of  ecclesiastical  subordina- 
tion, the  vicegerent  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  solemnly  declare,  that  I  should 
choose  death  rather  than  allow  any  private  or  personal  feeling  or  con- 
sideration to  betray  me  into  the  slightest  contest  with  or  disrespect  to- 
wards the  authority  and  dignity  of  the  head  of  the  Catholic  church, 
Pope  Pius  VII.  My  tongue  shall  never  utter  a  syllable  of  com- 
plaint, nor  my  pen  trace  a  line  of  vindication ;  for  lest  scandal  should 
arise,  in  the  words  of  the  prophet,  I  exclaim, '  First  take  me  up  and  cast 
me  into  the  sea.' " 

On  another  occasion,  some  priests  in  America,  chafing  against  author- 
ity, invited  him  amongst  them,  to  become  their  patriarch  and  head.  But 
he  spumed  the  infamous  proposal,  laid  it  at  the  feet  of  his  spiritual 
superior,  and  eloquently  reprimanded  those  from  whom  it  came. — 
McOee,  O'Ckmnelland  his  Friends,  p.  31.   Boston :  1846. 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN    IRELAND. 


811 


Lom  it  came.  — 


"  *  Though  we  sincerely  venerate  the  supreme  pontiff 
«  as  visible  head  of  the  church,  we  do  not  cdnceive  that 
«  our  apprehensions,  for  the  safety  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
"  olic  church  in  Ireland  can  or  ought  to  be  removed  by 
<*  any  determination  of  his  holiness,  adopted,  or  intended 
"  to  be  adopted,  not  only  without  our  concurrence,  but 
"  in  direct  opposition  to  our  repeated  resolutions,  and 
« the  very  energetic  memorial  presented  on  our  behalf, 
"  and  so  ably  supported  by  our  deputy,  the  Most  Rever- 
"  end  Dr.  Murray ;  who,  in  that  quality,  was  more  com- 
"  petent  t6  inform  his  holiness  of  the  real  state  and 
"  interests  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  Ireland  than 
"  any  other  with  whom  he  is  said  to  have  consulted.' 

"  These  resolutions  were  unanimously  agreed  to  by  the 
"  four  metropolitan  archbishops,  by  Dr.  Everard,  the  co- 
"  adjutor  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  by  Dr.  Murray,  the 
"  coadjutor  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  by  the  Bishops 
"  of  Meath,  Cloyne,  Clonfert,  Kerry,  Waterford,  Derry, 
"  Achonry,  Killala,  Killaloe,  Kilmore,  Ferns,  Limerick, 
"  Elphin,  Cork,  Downe  and  Connor,  Ossory,  Raphoe, 
<<  Clogher,  Dromore,  Kildare  and  Leighlin  and  Ardagh, 
"  and  the  warden  of  Galway." 

In  February,  1816,  Pius  VII.  addressed  a  lengthy 
epistle  to  the  Irish  prelates.  The  cardinal  point  of  this 
epistle  is  in  the  following  passage :  — 

"  This  also,  venerable  brothers,  it  is  right  that  you 
"  should  seriously  advert  to,  that  it  was  not  possible  for 
"  us  to  refuse  this  small  interference  in  4;he  election  of 
"  bishops  to  the  British  government,  without  exciting, 
"  in  a  serious  degree,  the  displeasure  of  that  government 
"  towards  the  whole  church.  It  were,  indeed,  to  be  wished, 
"  and  it  is  what  we  of  all  others  most  earnestly  desire, 
"  that,  in  the  election  of  bishops,  we  enjoyed  that  full  and 
"  complete  freedom,  which  so  peculiarly  makes  a  part  of 
"  our  supremacy,  and  that  no  lay  power  had  any  share 
"  whatever  in  a  matter  of  so  much  moment.  But  you 
"  yourselves  well  know  how  far  we  are  at  present  re- 
"  moved  from  this  happy  state  of  things.  For  the  sov- 
"  ereigns  of  Europe,  or  many  of  them  at  least,  have 
"  demanded  and  obtained,  from  the  apostolical  see,  a 


! 


812 


ATTEMPTS  TO   BBTABLiaH   THE 


i.||i 


^  greater  or  lesser  share  9f  influence  in  the  nomination  of 
**  candidates.  And  hence  have  arisen  the  conventions, 
*^  the  induUs,  the  nominatumst  ihepo^tulationsy  the  presen- 
<(  ttUionSf  and  other  expedients  of  this  kind,  by  which  the 
^  extent  of  the  privileges  granted  in  this  way  to  so  many 
<'  Catholic  sovereigns  is  limited  and  defined.  E;en  in 
^  your  islands,  before  the  ever-to-be-lamented  separation 
<*  from  the  Roman  church  took  place,  the  bishops  were 
*'  chosen  by  the  pope,  upon  the  supplication  of  the  king, 
^  as  is  recorded  iu  the  acts  of  the  consistory,  held  on 
*^  tho  6th  of  July,  in  the  year  1554,  during  the  auspi- 
^  cious  pontificate  of  Pope  Julius  III.*  Besides,  not 
**  Catholic  sovereigns  alone,  but  others  also  who  are 
<^  separated  from  our  communion,  claim  a  share  in  the 
*^  appointment  of  ecclesiastical  persons  to  bishoprics, 
**  situated  in  those  parts  of  their  dominions  which  yet 
<^  adhere  to  the  Catholic  faith  —  a  claim  whicli\  this  see 
<<  feels  it  necessary  to  submit  to. 

^  Such  being  the  state  of  this  momentous  question, 
*<  what  hope  could  there  be  entertained  that  the  British 
<'  government  would  long  have  submitted  to  an  exclusion 
*^  from  a  share  in  appointing  the  bishops  of  your  island, 
<*  even  such  as  it  has  been  explained,  while  a  conduct  so 
"different  is  observed  not  only  to  Catholic  sovereigns,  to 
"those  even  whose  dominions  are  of  the  smallest  extent, 
"  but  also  to  princes  who  do  not  belong  to  our  com- 
V  munion  ?  WaS'  it  not  to  be  feared,  that,  if  we  had  de- 
"  clined  adopting  the  measure  already  n»entioned,  the 
"  government  would  not  only  lay  aside  ail  intention  of 
"  granting  emancipation  to  the  Catholics,  but  withdraw 
. "  from  them  all  favor  and  protection  throughout  the 
"  whole  of  its  so  widely-extended  dominions  ?  " 

The  Irish  prelates,  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  perceived 
that  his  holiness  was  not  fully  informed  upon  all  the 
local  facts;  as,  for  instance,  where  he  speaiks  of  the 
emancipation  act  admitting  the  bishops  to  the  House  of 
Lords,  as  a  reason  why  th^^^  government  should  hold  a 
veto  over  their  appointment.    No  Catholic  in  the  empire 

'  *  Apud.  Baynaldum  ad  an.  1654,  No.  5  and  6. 


1, 1 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


313 


!1.' 


but  withdraw 


had  dreamed  of  such  a  contingency,  nor  could  those  who, 
at  Rome,  represented  it  as  possible,  be  well  defended 
from  the  imputation  of  practising  an  imposition  on  the 
holy  father. 

A  copious  extract  of  the  pope's  letter  was  communi- 
cated  by  the  bishops  to  the  Catholic  board  in  1817.  This 
body,  in  an  energetic  and  dutiful  remonstrance,  besought 
the  holy  father  to  decide  against  all  government  inter- 
ference with  Catholic  discipline.  They  declared  they 
would  rather  bear  all,  and  more  than  all,  their  old  op- 
pression, than  be  the  occasion  of  any  such  interference. 
Finally,  they  solicited  "  such  a  concordate  with  the  Cath- 
olic bishops  in  Ireland  as  will  render  the  election  of  their 
successors  perfectly  domestic  and  purely  Catholic,  and 
will  at  the  same  time  insure  the  institution  to  the  person 
80  elected."  In  reply,  the  holy  father  referred  the  Cath- 
olics to  his  letter  to  the  bishops,  and  concluded  with  this 
admonition :  "  Concerning  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of 
your  country,  we  order  you  to  be  at  ease"  In  whatever 
sense  various  individuals^  interpreted  these  emphatic 
words,  we  know  that  from  that  time  forth  the  propo- 
sal of  a  veto  was  but  seldom  and  faintly  renewed  at 
Rome,  London,  or  Dublin,  and  that  every  succeeding 
year  its  partisans  declined  and  disappeared.  The  fault 
of  1799  was  nobly  retrieved  by  the  firmness  of  1808  and 
the  twenty  succeeding  years. 

After  the  defeat  of  Grattan  and  Canning's  bill,  the 
majorities  against  the  Catholics  continued  to  be  large. 
In  1815,  Sir  Henry  Parnell's  motion  for  a  committee  jvas 
rejected  by  a  majority  of  228  to  147 ;  in  181G,  on  Mr. 
Grattan's  similar  motion,  the  vote  was  172  to  141 ;  in 
1817,  Mr.  Grattan  was  again  defeated  by  245  to  221. 
In  this  session  an  act  exempting  officers  in  the  army  and 
navy  from  forswearing  transubstantiation  was  passed; 
in  1818,  on  General  Thornton's  motion.  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  moved  the  previous  question  —  so  that  there  was 
no  division.  In  1819,  in  a  new  Parliament,  Mr.  Grat- 
tan's  motion  for  a  committee  was  negatived  by  two 
votes;  the  division,  being  241  for,  243  against.  This 
was  the  last  Catholic  motion  the  illustrious  orator  lived 
27 


f'-: 


^^ 


314 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


to  make.  In  a  dying  state,  he  was  carried  to  London, 
in  18^0,  declaring  it  to  be  his  purpose  to  die  in  the  ser- 
vice of  so  holy  a  cause.  Death  ihtercepted  his  genius 
in  that  devout  pilgrimage.  He  breathed  his  last  talking 
of  the  rights  of  the  Catholics,  leaving  nothing  to  that 
body  to  regret,  save  only  that  he  had  not  departed  pos- 
sessed of  the  holy  viaticum,  which  conduces  to  an  eter- 
nal glory  in  realms  where  agitation  and  persecution  are 
alike  unknown.* 

The  years  1819  and  1820  saw  a  spirit  of  languid  sub- 
mission  pervading  all  Ireland.  The  gradual  secession  of 
the  aristocracy  undermined  the  Catholic  board  after  an 
existence  of  eight  years,  remarkable  more  for  the  mis- 
chiefs it  averted  than  for  any  decisive  victories.  The 
death  of  Grattan  was  followed  by  that  of  George  III. 
The  coronation  of  the  regent  made  no  difference  in  the 
policy  of  the  empire,  over  which,  since  1810,  he  had  pos- 
sessed an  "unrestricted  sovereignty."  An  attempt  to 
found  an  Irish  party  irrespective  of  religion  had  failed; 
all  was  sullen  and  gloomy  acquiescence  in  the  order  of 
the  day.  To  make  the  matter  worse  for  the  Catholics, 
the  Irish  vetoists  retained  the  enmity  of  opposition  long 
after  the  conflict  had  passed.  O'Connell  and  Shiel  were 
entirely  estranged ;  and  the  stout  middle  men,  who  ad- 
hered to  "  the  counsellor,"  (as  he  was  popularly  called,) 


I 


iii 


•  Cliarles  Butler  relates  the  following  affecting  anecdote  of  Grattan's 
death :  "  At  the  end  of  May,  1820,  Mr.  Grattan  came  fvr  thf  last  time  to 
London.  On  the  first  day  of  the  following  June,  the  writer  ot  these  pages 
called  upon  him ;  and,  being  informed  that  he  was  extremely  ill,  was  re- 
tiring without  having  seen  him ;  but  Mr.  Grattan,  haying  heard  that  he 
was  in  the  house,  sent  for  him.  It  was  evident  that  he  touched  the  mo- 
ment of  his  dissolution ;  but  the  ethereal  vigor  of  his  mind  was  unsub- 
dued, and  his  zeal  for  the  Catholic  cause  unabated.  He  pressed  the 
writer  by  the  hand.  'It  is,"  he  said,  *all  over!  —  yes  —  tdl  over!  — 
but  I  will  die  in  the  cause.  I  mean  to  be  carried  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons to-morrow  —  to  beg  leave  of  the  speaker  to  take  the  oaths  si|;ting  — 
and  then  to  move  two  resolutions.'  These  he  mentioned  to  the  writer, 
but  spoke  so  indistinctly,  that  the  writer  could  only  perceive,  generally, 
that  they  were  substantially  the  same  as  the  clauses  which  he  had  pre- 
fixed to  the  bill,  which,  in  1812,  he  brought  into  ParUament  for  tl\e  relief 
of  the  Catholics.  He  again  pressed  the  writer  by  the  hand,  repeated  the 
*jitention  of  being  carried  to  the  house,  and  desired  the  writer  to  attend 
him  to  it.    But  he  died  in  the  ensuing  night !  " 


7V 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


315 


cordially  despised  the  titled  trimmers  who  acted  with 
Lord  Fingal.  When  the  latter  received  his  "yagrd  of 
blue  ribbon,'*  so  satirized  by  Byron,  it  did  not  mend  the 
matter  in  the  least.  An  occasional  allv  on  to  the  wrongs 
of  the  people  in  pleadings  at  the  bar,  an  occasional  voice 
from  the  press  vainly  exhorting  to  exertion,  was  all  that 
was  heard  in  this  gloomy  interval,  out  of  which  no  man 
perceived  any  way  of  deliverance. 

The  separate  tariff  of  Ireland  was,  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  union,  drawing  to  its  end;  men  were  retir- 
ing from  trade,  and  rushing  upon  the  land;  the  ex- 
chequers of  the  two  countries  were  to  be  consolidated. 
The  social  revolution  occupied  every  mind  in  1820;  it 
was  then  the  union  was  consummated. 

In  England,  the  Galilean  Catholics  were  still  in  the 
ascendant,  though  the  aged  Milner's  ultramontane  doc- 
trines found  a  small  and  growing  body  of  adherents. 
The  irreligious  populace  had  been  lately  reached  by  the 
propaganda  of  the  old  radical  reformers  —  Cartwright, 
Godwin,  Bentham,  Cobbett,  and  Burdett.  In  1819,  the 
military  at  Manchester  fired  upon  one  of  their  assemblies, 
shooting  down  several  of  the  people.  Thenceforward 
we  can  clearly  trace  the  aggressions  of  the  urban  upon 
the  territorial  aristocracy:  this  was  a  social  revolution 
for  England,  whose  consequences  are  still  ripening. 

So  opened  the  important  decade  during  which  George 
IV.  reigned  in  his  own  name  over  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  -     ' 


.•  m 


^i' 


816 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


CHAPTER  VI. 

VISIT  OF   GEORGE  IT.  TO  IRELAND THE  CATHOLIC  QUESTION  19 

PARLIAMENT.  -  FORMATION  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION. - 
ITS  PROGRESS  AND  POWER.— THE  CATHOLICS  BEFORE  PARLIA- 
MENT IN  PERSON.  —FOREIGN  SYMPATHY;  AID  FROM  THE  IRISH 
IN  AMERICA.  — THE  "SECOND  REFORMATION."  -  GENERAL  CATH- 
OLIC   CONTROVERSY.  —  ADVOCATES    OF   EMANCIPATION  AT  THE 

PRESS ELECTION    OF    0»CONNELL   TO    PARLIAMENT.  -  RELIEF 

BILL  OF  1899.  —  RELATIONS  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  "THE  ESTAB- 
LISHMENT," A.  D.  1830. -CONCLUSION. 


In  1821,  to  escape  from  the  unpopularity  produced  by 
his  persecution  of  Queen  Caroline,  George  IV.  visited 
Ireland.  He  arrived  in  Dubl>n,  and  was  received  with 
enthusiasm.  It  is  humiliating  to  an  Irishman  to  record 
the  dishonorable  fact;  but  the  truth  must  be  told. 
Though  one  of  the  most  criminal  kings  that  had  ever 
reigned,  (not  excepting  Henry  VIII.,  whom  he  much 
resembled,)  though  accompanied  by  Lord  Castlereagh, 
and  fresh  from  the  infamous  persecution  of  his  own 
wife,  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  So  vain  and 
frivolous  does  long  |yrovincialism  make  men  of  rank,  so 
helplessly  excitable  does  it  leave  a  city  populace.  George 
IV.  remained  a  month  in  Ireland,  and  then,  with  many 
fair  promises,  made  to  be  broken,  returned  home  by  way 
of  Scotland. 

Earlv  in  the  first  session  of  the  new  Parliament,  (May 
4,  1821,)  Mr.  Plunkett,  whose  ambition  it  was  to  fol- 
low in  Mr.  Grattan's  footsteps,  presented  several  Cath- 
olic petitions,  and  moved  for  a  committee  to  consider 
them.  In  commencing  an  argument  worthy  of  the  suc- 
cession he  claimed,  he  made  the  following  preface :  — 

"  Sir,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  petition,  signed  by  a  very 
"  considerable  number  of  his  majesty's  Roman  Catholic 
"  subjects  of  Ireland.  From  the  names  attached  to  it, 
**  which  amount  to  many  thousands,  distinguished  for 
"  rank,  fortune,  talents,  and  every  thing  which  can  confer 
"  weight  and  influence,  —  from  the  means  which  these 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION       ^    ID  GLANI 


317 


«  persons  possess  of  collecting  the  0|    lions  ol    he  p<*-  ^la 
^  in  that  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  —  the  petiti*  f 

"  be  fairly  considered  as  speaking  the  sentiments  u  ue 
**  great  body  of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Irelaiui  A 
"  similar  petition  was  presented  from  the  same  body,  th» 
"  year  before  last.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  remind 
"  the  house  that  on  that  occasion,  it  was  presf  ted  by 
"  the  late  Mr.  Grattan.  It  was  sanctionea  by  the  au- 
'<  thority  of  his  name,  and  enforced  by  all  the  resistless 
"  powers  which  waited  on  the  majesty  of  his  genius.  I 
"  have  no  design  to  give  vent  to  the  &elings  with  which 
"  my  heart  is  filled,  or  to  mingle  with  the  public  motirn- 
"  ing  the  mere  peculiar  and  selfish  regrets  which  have 
"  followed  to  the  grave  the  friend  by  whose  confidence 
"  I  was  honored,  by  whose  wisdom  1  was  instructed,  by 
<'  whose  example  I  was  guided.  His  eulogium  has  been 
'<  heard  from  the  lips  of  kindred  eloquence  and  genius ; 
"  the  last  duties  have  been  rendered  to  his  tomb  by  the 
"  gratitude  and  justice  of  the  British  people :  in  his 
"  death,  as  in  his  life,  he  has'  been  a  bond  of  connection 
"  between  the  countries.  Sir,  I  will  not  weaken  the 
"  force  of  that  eulogium,  or  disturb  the  solemnity  of 
"  those  obsequies,  by  my  feeble  praise  or  unavailing  sor- 
"  row ;  but  with  respect  to  the  sentiments  of  that  great 
"  and  good  man  on  this  particular  question  I  wish  to  say 
"  a  word.  Sir,  he  had  meditated  upon  it  deeply  ana 
"  earnestly ;  it  had  taken  early  and  entire  possession  of 
"  his  mind,  and  held  it  to  the  last ;  he  would  willingly 
"  have  closed  his  career  of  glory  in  the  act  of  asserting 
"  within  these  walls  the  liberties  of  his  countrymen,  but 
"  still  regarding  them  as  connected  with  the  strength, 
"  the  concord,  and  the  security  of  th'*  empire.  Sir,  he 
"  was  alive  to  fame  —  to  the  fame  that  follows  virtue. 
"  The  love  of  it  clung  to  him  to  the  last  moments  of  his 
"  life ;  but  though  he  felt  that  '  last  infirmity  of  noble 
"  minds,'  never  did  there  breathe  a  human  being  who 
"  had  a  more  lofty  disdain  for  the  shallow  and  treacher- 
"  ous  popularity  which  is  to  be  courted  by  subserviency,, 
"  and  purchased  at  the  expense  of  principle  and  duty. 
"  He  ffelt  that  this  question  was  not  to  be  carried  as  the 
27* 


I 


318 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH   THE 


"  trinmph  of  a  party,  or  of  a  sect,  but  to  be  pursued  as  a 
''  great  measure  of  public  good,  in  which  all  were  bound 
"  to  forego  their  prejudices,  and  to  humble  their  passions 
'*  for  the  attainment  of  justice  and  of  peace.  Sir,  in  the 
**  humble  walk,  and  at  the  immeasurable  distance  at 
*^  which  it  is  my  lot  to  follow  the  footsteps  of  my  illus- 
"  trious  friend,  I  pledge  myself  to  be  governed  by  the 
*^  same  spirit.  I  have  a  firm  and  entire  persuasion  that 
"  justice  and  policy  require  that  the  prayer  of  this  peti- 
"  tion  should  be  complied  with;  but  I  am  equally  con- 
"  vinced  that,  if  this  question  is  pressed,  or  carried  on 
"  any  other  terms  than  those  which  will  give  full  satis- 
<<  faction  to  the  Protestant  mind,  it  cannot  be  productive 
**  of  good.  All  these  objects  appear  to  me  to  be  attain- 
**  able :  with  this  view  and  in  this  temper  only  will  I 
"  prosecute  them." 

This  man,  also,  though  able  and  honest,  was  short- 
sighted.  "  Terms"  which  would  "  satisfy  the  Protestant 
mind"  could  not  possibly  satisfy  the  Catholic.  He  did 
not  understand  the  consequences  of  <<the  reformation." 
It  is  clear  he  must  fail  with  all  his  eloquence  and  energy. 

Mr.  Plunkett's  bill  of  1821  was  very  similar  to  that  of 
1813 ;  *  it  was  supported  by  Canning,  Wilberforce,  and 
Mackintosh :  it  was  opposed  by  Scott,  Peel,  and  some 
nameless  bigots.  It  was  carried,  on  a  third  reading,  by 
a  majority  of  216  to  197 ;  the  Lords'  House  rejected  it  by 
1^  to  120.  Both  in  this  and  the  next  Parliament,  the 
Lords  were  frequently  in  collision  with  the  Commons  on 
this  question.  In  1822,  Mr.  Canning's  bill  to  enable 
Catholic  peers  to  take  their  seats  was  rejected  by  them ; 
in  the  Commons  it  had  an  overplus  of  21,  while  in  the 
Lords  it  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  271  noes  to 
129  ayes. 

The  mind  of  Daniel  O'Connell  had  been  much  occu- 
pied, since  the  dissolution  of  the  Catholic  board,  in  pre- 
paring a  project  for  another  effort.     A  Catholic,  an  anti- 

*  The  Catholic  ,  volntes  of  Leinster,  in  a  meeting  at  St.  Michael  and 
John's  Chiirch,  Dublin,  Archbishop  Troy  in  the  chair,  expressed  their 
disapprobation  of  the  veto  clause.  With  that  exception  they  approved 
Plunkett'8  bill  of  1521. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


319 


revolutionist,  and  a  lawyer,  he  was  trebly  bound  to  the 
peace.  Looking  around,  in  both  islands,  he  saw  a  vast 
outlying  multitude  of  non-electors,  surrounding  the  edi- 
lice  of  a  representative  government.  To  agitate  this 
stagnant  maHH  of  still  lifo ;  to  control  the  agitation  with- 
in the  limits  ot  law;  by  constant  "pressure  from  with- 
out," to  extract  concessions  constitutionally  from  an  un- 
willing oligarchy,  —  these  -were  his  tactics.  After  the 
event,  it  appears  a  simple,  or,  indeed,  a  vulgar  design : 
there  is  little  apparent  originality  or  heroism  in  it.  Yet, 
in  the  winter  evenings  of  1822-^,  when  these  thoughts 
throbbed  under  the  full  temples  of  0'Connell,«they  were 
rare  discoveries.  They  were  parts  of  a  machinery  of 
peaceful  political  association,  unknown  before  that  time 
in  constitutional  or  despotic  states.  It  was  a  plan  as 
new  to  the  Irish  Catholics  as  to  others.  The  petitioning 
committees  of  1757  and  1773,  the  conventions  of  1793 
and  1811,  the  late  board  —  all  did  their  work  in  a  select 
circle,  and  by  sending  out  deputations  to  the  constituents, 
or  to  the  government.  This  new  system  proposed  to 
make  the  aggregate  public  the  chief  agent;  to  deliberate 
in  committee,  and  decide  before  the  face  of  the  people ; 
to  accefSt  the  peasant's  penny  as  well  as  the  peer's  pound ; 
to  make  the  press  the  daily  deputy  of  the  constituent 
multitude.  We  f^annot  approve  of  such  an  extrajudi- 
cial combination  in  many  cases ;  but  in  this  case,  for 
which  the  machinery  was  originally  invented,  we  will 
find  it  work  wonderfully  well.  It  is  of  course  to  be  re- 
membered that  the  inyentor  remained  the  overseer  of 
his  own  work. 

One  of  his  earliest  converts  to  the  proposed  plan  of 
action  was  Mr.  Shiel,  whom  he  accidentally  met  at  the 
house  of  a  mutual  friend  in  Wicklow,  and  not  only  con- 
ciliated, but  enlisted.  March,  April,  and  the  early  part 
of  May  were  spent  upon  a  series  of  parish  meetings  in 
Dublin,  for  which  purpose  the  churches,  or  "  chapels,"  as 
they  were  then  called,  were  placed  at  his  disposal. 
O'Connell  was  then  at  his  best,  and  his  various  ha- 
rangues stirred  to  life  the  desponding  and  the  fearful.  A 
preliminary  meeting  had  been  held  for  business  on  thp 
4th  of  'February,  another  on  the  23d  of  May,  at  which 


t  • 


'«■' 


i;i 


320 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


rules  were  adopted,  one  of  which  bound  the  members  to 
meet  every  Saturday.*  The  meetings  for  some  time 
were  thinly  attended,  and  the  receipts  were  proportionate 


I'lii 


*  Rtties  and  Beffukttions  of  the  Catholic  Association  of  Jrelandf  commencing 

Saturday,  24^A  May\  1823. 

Joseph  McDonnell,  Esq.,  in  the  chair. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  draught  of  laws  and  regulations 
for  the  Association  reported,  whereupon  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted :  — 

That  the  Catholic  Association  be  formed  to  adopt  all  such  legal  and 
constitutional  measures  as  may  be  most  useful  to  obtain  Catholic  eman- 
cipation. 

That  the  Association  is  not  a  representative  or  delegated  body ;  and 
that  it  will  not  assume  any  representative  or  delegated  authority  or  quality. 

That  such  individuals  as  shall  give  in  their  names  to  the  secretary,  and 
pay  an  annual  subscription  of  one  pound  two  shillings  and  ninepence, 
be  members  of  this  Associaticm ;  and  that  same  be  payable  each  first  day 
of  January. 

That  no  motion  shall  be  debated  at  any  meeting  o£  this  Association 
without  one  week's  previous  notice. 

That  all  reporters  for  newspapers,  &c.,  be  at  liberty  to  attend  all  the 
meetings  of  the  Association. 

That  the  Secretary  do  call  an  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Association 
whenever  required,  by  a  requisition  signed  by  at  least  twenty  members. 

That  the  proceedings  of  the  Association,  as  well  as  notices  of  motions, 
be  entered  in  a  book  always  open  for  inspection,  and  reference ;  and  that 
a  book  be  also  kept,  containing  as  well  the  names  as  the  address  of  each 
member,  to  be  always  open  for  inspection. 

That  no  member  be  allowed  to  speak  twice  in  any  discussion,  except 
the  mover  of  the  original  question,  who  shall  have  the  right  to  reply ; 
such  reply  to  close  the  debate. 

That  during  any  discussion  every  member  be  seated,  except  the  mem- 
ber addressing  the  chairman.  ^ 

That  the  object  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  is  to  prevent  as  much  as 
possible  any  debate  or  discussion  but  what  must  be  absolutely  necessary 
to  ascertain  the  sense  of  each  meeting. 

That  Saturday  be  the  fixed  day  of  meeting,  subject  to  such  adjourn- 
ment as  the  Association  may  agree  to. 

That  at  least  ten  members  must  be  in  attendance  in  order  to  constitute 
a  meeting  of  this  Association. 

That  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  be  the  fixed  hour  of  all  meetings ; 
and  that  so  soon  as  ten  members  are  in  attendance  after  three  o'clock,  the 
chair  shall  b^  immediately  taken. 

Treasurers  and  secretaries  were  appointed. 

Joseph  M'Donnbll,  Chairman. 
N.  PuROBiiii  O' Gorman,  Secretary. 
'—  Wyse,  History  of  the  Late  Catholic  Association,  vol.  i.  pp.  37,  38. 

The  members  present  at  this  first  meeting  were.  The  O'Connor  Don, 
Sir  Ed.  Bellew,  D.  O'Connell,  Nicholas  Mahon,  Eneas  McDonnell,  Richard 
Shiel,  R.  Lonergan,  and  Messrs.  Callaghan,  Scanlan,  Oldham,  and  Qay. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMA.TION    IN    IRELAND. 


321 


and,  commencing 


this  Association 
o  attend  all  the 


rence;  and  that 
address  of  each 


xcept  the  mem- 


to  the  numbers,  averaging  under  ten  pounds  per  week. 
The  system  of  parochial  collections  began  to  spread :  in 

1824,  the  receipts  rose  to  average  between  thirty  and 
forty  pounds  per  week;  the  clergy,  the  bar,  and  the 
gentry  began  to  join  ;  the  press  revolved  for  the  Catholic 
cause ;  the  systematic  industry  of  O'Connell  had  pre- 
vailed over  the  lethargy  of  his  contemporaries.  In  the 
second  year,  the  association  removed  to  the  Corn  Ex- 
change rooms,  which  continued  for  many  years  the  Par- 
liament of  the  agitation. 

In  the  imperial  legislature,  in  1823,  Mr.  Plunkett,  in 
moving  for  a  committee,  had  been  again  defeated  by  a 
motion  for  adjournment.  In  1824,  bills  enabling  Catho- 
lics to  vote  at  elections  and  act  as  magistrates  were 
also  defeated.  An  act  enabling  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  to 
discharge  his  duties   as  earl   marshal  was   passed.     In 

1825,  Plunkett  and  Canning,  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the 
king,  refused  to  propose  the  reference  of  Catholic  peti- 
tions, which,  in  this,  and  the  two  following  years,  were 
chiefly  intrusted  to  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  the  whig  radi« 
cal  meml>er  for  Westminster.  The  eloquent  gentleman 
just  named  had  still  further  offended  by  voting  for  the 
act  to  suppress  the  Catholic  Association,  commonly 
called  "  the  Algerine  act."  The  plea  for  this  law  was, 
that  it  would  leave  Parliament  free  to  legislate  on  the 
question,  without  pretence  of  intimidation.  No  such 
legislation  followed,  and  on  the  13th  July,  1825,  the 
association  was  revived,  under  new  rules,  technically 
different,  but  in  effect  the  same  as  the  old.  An  immense 
accession  of  strength  followed ;  twenty-six  bishops,  three 
thousand  priests,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  members, 
including  fourteen  hundred  Protestants,  were  found  upon 
its  muster  roll. 

In  1825,  certain  Catholics,  clerical  and  lay,  had  been 
summoned  to  appear  before  a  committee  of  Parliament. 
This  was  an  important  innovation  —  the  first  of  the  kind 
since  the  days  of  the  Stuarts.  In  February,  Mr.  O'Con- 
nell and  the  laymen  were  examined ;  in  March,  the 
Archbishops  of  Armagh,  Dublin,  and  Cashel,  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Dr.  Magauran,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Doyle  were  exam- 


it  Mii^ 


322 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


ined.  Dr.  Doyle's  evidence  was  the  most  minute  and 
particular, ,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  important. 
We  believe  it  is  now  understood  that  some  of  his  opin- 
ions were  considered  heterodox  at  Rome ;  but  the  respect 
entertained  for  his  life  and  talents  by  the  sacred  college 
prevented  any  action  being  taken  upon  them.  The  effect 
of  the  examination  was  salutary  at  the  time.  Mr.  Daw- 
son, a  near  relative  of  Mr.  Peel,  Mr.  Brownlow,  after- 
wards Lord  Lurgan,  and  other  opponents  of  the  Catho- 
lic claims,  declared  themselves  converted  to  their  side. 
Both  houses  of  Parliament  subsequently  were  in  the 
habit  of  quoting  the  examinations  of  1825  as  authority, 
thus  rehearsing  Catholic  definitions  of  Catholic  doctrine. 
Soon  after  the  examinations  clos-^d,  the  emancipation 
bill  passed  the  Commons  with  Burdett's  "two  wings" 
attached  —  one  providing  that  the  state  should  support 
the  priesthood ;  the  other  disfranchising  the  Irish  "  forty 
shilling "  freeholders,  who  were  chiefly  Catholics,  regis- 
tered under  the  act  of  1793.  On  the  18th  of  May,  it 
came  up  for  discussion  in  the  Lords,  when  the  Duke  of 
York  made  his  impious  declaration,*  that,  "  so  help  him 

•  A  metrical  travesty  of  this  **  speech  presumptive,"  which  appeared 
in  one  of  the  London  morning  papers,  has  been  ascribed  to  Thomas 
Moore.    The  following  is  a  sample  of  this  satire :  — 

»*  Though  Mr.  Leslie  Foster  winced 

From  what  he  once  asserted ; 
Though  Mr.  Brownlow  is  convinced, 

And  Mr.  North  converted ; 
Though  even  country  gentlemen  » 

Are  sick  of  half  their  maggots. 
And  rustics  mock  the  vicar,  when 

He  prates  of  fiery  fagots ; 
Though  Hume  and  Brougham,  and  twenty  more, 

Are  swaggering  and  swearing, 
And  Scarlett  hopes  the  scarlet  whore 

Will  not  be  found  past  bearing ; 
Though  Reverend  Norwich  does  not^mind 

The  feuds  of  two  and  seven, 
And  trusts  that  humble  prayers  may  find 

A  dozen  roads  to  heaven,  — 
Tin  royal  heads  are  lit  with  gas, 

Till  Hebrews  dine  on  pork,  - 

'  My  lords,  this  bill  shall  never  pass ;  ^ 

So  help  me  Qod !  "  said  York. 


i"  I  f 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND. 


323 


God,  in  every  situation  in  which  he  might  be  placed,  he 
would  uphold  the  pcinciples  of  hostility  to  Catholics  in 
which  he  had  been  bred."  This  from  the  king's  brother, 
the  heir  presumptive,  decided  their  lordships.  The  bill 
was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  178  to  130.  Shortly  after  this, 
the  duke  suddenly  died,  and  his  more  liberal  brother 
William  became  the  next  claimant  to  the  crown. 

The  year  1825  was  further  remarkable  for  the  ora- 
torical deputation  to  England,  composed  of  Councillors 
O'Connell,  Shiel,  Brie,  Sergeant  Shee,  and  one  or  two 
others.  The  meetings  at  London,  Liverpool,  and  Pen- 
enden  Heat!',  in  Kent,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  sym- 
pathies of  n(  -Catholics.  Bentham,  Cobb^tt,  and  the 
radicals  cordially  exerted  themselves  to  help  forward  the 
projected  emancipation ;  acting,  as  one  might  expect, 
more  on  radical  than  religious  grounds. 

In  1326,  a  general  election  occurred  on  a  change 
of  ministry.  Canning  and  Lord  Goderich  succeeding 
Lord  Liverpool  for  a  few  months,  to  be  succeeded  by 
Wellington  and  Peel.  In  this  election,  the  association 
tried  its  strength  with  the  Beresfords  in  Waterford,  the 
Fosters  in  Louth^  and  the  Leslies  in  Monaghan ;  who,  of 
all  the  aristocracy,  were  most  devoted  to  the  establishment. 
They  triumphed  in  each  instance,  and  had  the  experi- 
ment been  general,  might  have  done  so  to  a  much  greater 
extent.  The  forty  shilling  freeholders,  the  army  of  Irish 
liberty,  still  remained  to  fight  the  good  fight,  and  conquer 
for  their  friends.  The  results  of  1826  added  immensely 
to  the  influence  of  the  association  both  at  home  and 
abroad.* 

•  The  Irish  landlords  felt  their  defeat  severely,  and  commenced  a  sys- 
tem of  vindictive  retaliation  by  ejecting,  without  mercy,  all  the  tenants 
who  had  proved  refractory.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Catholic  Association 
organized  •«  A  Tenant  Protection  Rent,"  which  soon  amounted  to  a  con- 
Bi4erable  sum ;  at  the  same  time,  it  was  very  broadly  hinted  that  Cath< 
olic  creditors  would  forecloae  the  mortgages  of  those  landlords  who  chose 
to  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  persecution.  This  was  a  perilous  menace  to 
men  overwhelmed  with  debt,  and  only  nominal  owners  of  their  estates. 
The  landlords  soon  saw  that  they  would  have  the  worst  in  the  conflict ; 
they  desisted  one  by  one,  and  even  employed  the  priests,  in  many  cases, 
to  make  amicable  arrangements  for  them  with  their  own  tenants."  — 
Remniteense*  qf  0'  ContuU,  p.  65> 


::  ^i>. 


I'< 


f  ■ 


324 


ATTEMPTS   TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


The  Paris  press  conveyed  to  the  European  continent 
the  records  of  a  struggle  once  more  restored  to  interna- 
tional consequence.  The  Duke  de  Mo.ntebello,  Messrs. 
Duvergier  and  Thayer,  visited  Ireland  in  1826.  Duver- 
gier  virrote  a  series  of  very  interesting  letters  on  "ihe 
state  of  Ireland,"  at  the  time,  which  went  through  sev- 
eral editions.  At  the  Ballinasloe  meeting  the  Duke  de 
Montebello  had  a  vote  of  thanks  presented  to  him,  which 
he  gracefully  acknowledged,  expressing  his  wishes  for  the 
success  of  their  cause.  This  simple  act  excited  much 
apprehension  and  a  deal  of  discussion  at  court  and  at  the 
castle.*  The  Paris  presi  was  still  more  attracted  in 
consequence,  and  the  French  Catholics,  informed  of  the 
state  of  affairs,  voted  an  address  and  subscription  to  the 
Dublin  association.  The  Bavarian  Catholics  followed 
their  example,  and  encouraging  assurances  were  received 
from  Spain  and  Italy. 

One  address  from  British  India  contained  a  contribu- 
tion of  three  thousand  pounds  sterling.  From  the  West 
Indies  and  Canada  proportionate  assistance  was  ren- 
dered. Dublin  had  become  the  Catholic  capital  of  the 
empire,  the  association  its  senate,  and  O'Connell  its 
prince  or  president. 

In  the  United  States  of  America — the  natural  asylum 
of  multitudes  of  persecuted  Irish  Catholics  —  this  sym- 
pathetic movement  was  most  active.  New  York  felt 
almost  as  interested  in  the  cause  as  Dublin.  In  1826  and 
1827,  associations  to  cooperate  with  O'Connell  were 
formed  at  New  York,  Boston,  Washington,  Norfolk, 
Charleston,  Augusta,  Louisville,  and  Bardstown.  Ad- 
dresses in  English  and  French  were  prepared  for  these 
societies,  chiefly  by  Dr.  McNevin,  at  New  York,  and 
Bishop  England,  at  Charleston.  The  American,  like  the 
French  press,  became  interested  in  the  subject,  and  elo- 
quent allusions  were  made  to  it  in  Congress.  On  the 
20th  of  January,  1828,  McNevin  wrote  to  O'Connell,— 

"  Public  opinion  in  America  is  deep,  and  strong,  and 


*  Duvergier's  Letters,  Appendix  to  Wyse's  History  o>f  the  Catholio 
Association,  p.  Id. 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN   IRELAND. 


825 


of  the  Catholio 


"  universal,  in  your  behalf.  This  predilection  prevails 
"  over  the  broad  bosom  of  our  extensive  continent.  As- 
"  sociations  similar  to  ours  are  every  where  starting  into 
"  existence  —  in  our  largest  and  wealthiest  cities  — in 
*'  our  hamlets  and  our  villages  —  in  our  most  remote 
"  sections ;  and  at  this  moment,  the  propriety  of  con- 
"  vening,  at  Washington,  delegates  of  the  friends  of  Ire- 
"  land,  of  all  the  states,  is  under  serious  deliberation.  A 
"  fund  will  ere  long  be  derived  from  American  patriotism 
"  in  the  United  States,  which  will  astonish  yoilr  haugh- 
"  tiest  opponents."  * 

All  the  foreign  influence  that  an  unrecognized  de  facto 
government  could  exercise  was  thus  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  managers  of  the  association  at  Dublin. 

Protestantism,  conscious,  by  all  its  instincts,  of  the 
recovering  energies  of  the  faithful,  made  in  those  busy 
years  a  desperate  eftbrt  to  revive  the  cause  of  the  refor- 
mation. In  1824,  and  the  five  succeeding  years,  "  the 
Bible  Societies  "  concentrated  all  their  funds  and  energies 
on  Ireland.  Native  bigots,  like  Parsons  Pope  and  Lees, 
were  subsidized  and  cheered  on :  allies,  like  the  Hon. 
Baptist  Noel,  Mr.  Wolff,  and  Captain  Gordon,  a  de- 
scendant of  the  lord  of  the  London  riot,  were  provided 
for  them  by  Exeter  Hall.  At  Derry,  Dublin,  Carlow, 
and  Cork,  the  itinerants  challenged  the  clergy  to  defend 
their  doctrines.  Fathers  Maginn,  Maguire,  Maher,  Mc- 
Sweeney,  and  some  others,  accepted  these  challenges, 
and  the  oral  discussion  of  theological  and  historical 
questions  became  as  common  as  town  talk  in  every  Irish 
community.  Whether,  in  any  case,  these  debates  con- 
duced to  the  conversion  of  Protestants  is  doubtful ;  but 
they  certainly  supplied  the  Catholic  laity  with  a  '  'dy 
of  facts  and  arguments  very  necessary  at  that  time,  and 
which  hardly  any  other  occasion  could  have  presented. 
The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Doyle,  who  was  justly  considered 
the  ablest  Irish  bishop  of  his  time,  though  he  tolerated  a 
first  discussion,   positively  forbade  a  second.     Among 


*  Wyse's  History  of  the  Late  OathoUc  Association,  vol.  i.   Appen- 
dix, p.  210. 

38 


*      :! 


326 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


the  cogent  reasons  he  gave  his  clergy  for-  so  doing  were 
these : — 

"  With  such  men  there  can  be  no  common  principles 
"  to  which  they  could  be  bound  to  adhere ;  or  if  there 
"  were  any,  they  could  be  departed  from  by  them  as  soon 
"  as  their  opinions  underwent  a  change ;  but  in  no  case 
"  would  such  principles  express  a  form  of  religious  be- 
"  lief  binding  upon  any  others  than  those  who  might 
"  subscribe  to  them. ,  You  who  are  Catholics,  professing 
"  a  clearly-defined  faith,  can  never  meet  men  who  are 
"  thus  tossed  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  upon  a 
"  footing  of  equality :  they  may  be  worsted  in  argument, 
"  convicted  of  error,  confounded  at  the  exposure  of  their 
"  OWL  contradictions  or  folly ;  but  they  alone  can  suffer ; 
"  no  one  is  responsible  for  their  errors,  no  person  need 
"  blush  at  their  confusion,  no  man  is  a  partner  in  their 
"  shame.  Not  so  with  you.  If,  through  error,  mistake, 
"  ignorance,  or  forge tfulness,  you  leave  an  objection  un- 
"  refuted,  or  an  aspersion  not  wiped  away,  such  objection 
"  or  aspersion  stands  recorded  against  your  church,  and 
"  the  chaste  spouse  of  Christ  suffers  in  your  person  from 
"  the  blasphemy  of  her  apostate  children. 

"  You  are  to  avoid  these  disputes,  because  by  entering 
"  into  them  you  appear  to  call  in  question  those  truths 
"  which  are  already  defined  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  by 
"  us,  that  is,  by  the  bishops,  the  successors  of  the  apos- 
"  ties.  You  agree,  as  it  were,  to  impanel  a  jury,  of  I 
"  know  not  what  description  of  persons,  to  try  the  ques- 
"  tion  whether  Christ  is  with  us  teaching  all  days,  even  to 
"  the  end  of  the  world;  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  has,  or  has 
"not  taught  our  fathers  all  truth ;  whether  we  be  placed 
"  by  him  to  rule  the  church  of  God ;  whether  this  church 
"  be,  or  be  not,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth ;  whether 
"  those  whom  we  leave  bound  on  earth  be  bound  in 
"  heaven ;  or  whether  the  gates  of  hell  have  prevailed,  or 
"  can  prevail,  against  the  church ;  whether,  again,  this 
"  church  has  been  buried  in  idolatry  for  eight  hundred 
"  years ;  whether,  in  fine,  those  who  refuse  to  hear  her, 
"  and  who  thereby  despise  Christ,  and  the  Father  who 
"  sent  him,  are,  or  are  not,  as  heathens  and  publicans 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


327 


«  before  God.  These  truths,  reverend  brethren,  which 
"  would  be  thus  subjected,  as  it  were,  to  trial,  are  clear 
"  and  incontestable;  you  yourselves  have  enforced  them 
"  by  much  argument  and  great  eloquence ;  and  it  is  be- 
"  cause  they  are  immovable,  and  because  your  argu- 
"  ments  in  support  of  them  are  able,  convincing,  and 
"  unanswerable,  that  the  members  of  the  Bible  Society 
"  wish,  by  inviting  you  to  a  renewed  discussion,  to 
"turn  public  attention  from  the  palpable  folly  of  their 
"  proceedings. 

*•  You  should  not  dispute  with  these  men  in  the  man- 
"  ner  proposed,  because  there  is  r  o  tribunal  on  the  earth 
"  competent  to  try  the  issue  between  you.     The  errors 
"  maintained  by  the  members  of  the  Bible  Society  regard 
"  either  the  primary  articles  of  the  Christian  faith,  or 
"  truths   already   defined    by  the   church.      Both   these 
"  classes  of  truths    are  immovably  and    definitely  set- 
"  tied :  God,  or  his  church,  or  rather  both,  have  spoken ; 
"  and  as  St.  Augustine  said  to  the  Pelagians,  *  The  cause 
"  is  concluded ;  I  wish  the  error  would  at  length  cease '  — 
"  Causa  finita  est ;  utinam  aliquandofiniretur  error.    There 
"  can  be  no  new  hearing,  no  new  trial.     The  church  at 
"  Trent  invited  the  heretics  of  the   sixteenth   cer»tury 
"  (those  who  broached  or  renewed  the  errors  which  are 
"  now  revived)   to   plead   their  own  cause  before   the 
"  council :  these  blind  and  obstinate  men  refused  to  do 
"  so,  but  their  cause  was  examined  fully  and  dispassion- 
"  ately ;  sentence  \  as  at  length  passed,  and  the  matter 
"  set  at  rest  forever.     CoMsa  finita  est.     It  can  never  be 
"  revived :  it  hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
"  to  our  fathers  so  to  determine ;  there  can  be  no  re- 
*'  hearing  of  the  case ;  there  is  no  hi^gher  tribunal  consti- 
*'  tuted  by  God,  no  one  or  many  to  whom  a  new  issue 
"  could    be  directed  for    trial.     '  Whosoever  does   not 
*'  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  to  thee  a  heathen  and  a 
"  publican.' 

"  Lastly,  you  should  not  contend,  as  is  proposed,  with 
"  men  over  whom  a  triumph  could  be  productive  of  no 
"  permanent  advantage :  as  individuals  they  may  be 
"  learned  and  respectable ;  but  as  religionists  they  are 


>    u'i,. 


i...  'i 


828 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THE 


"  deserving  only  of  your  unmixed  pity.  They  profess  to 
"  be  seeking  for  truth ;  this  can  only  be  found  in  the 
**  Catholic  church ;  and  the  faith  which  believes  in  it,  as 
*'  there  propounded,  is  a  gift  of  God  —  to  be  obtained, 
<*  not  by  disputation,  but  by  hui;nility,  alms-deeds,  and 
"  prayers.  The  judgment  of  man  is  too  slow  and  too 
**  unsettled;  the  objects  of  its  investigation  are  too 
"  mysterious  and  too  far  removed :  it  may  reason  in- 
"  terminably  and  dispute,  but  it  can  never  determine ; 
"  authority  alone  can  decide."  * 

The  Archbishop  of  Armagh  and  other  prelates  issued 
similar  circulars  to  their  clergy  to  refrain  from  oral  dis- 
putes. The  discussions  at  Derry,  Dublin,  Carlow,  and 
Cork,  were  subsequent  to  this:  the  practice  gradually  fell 
into  disuse.  Controversial  lectures  and  the  agency  of 
the  press  have  been  chiefly  resorted  to  of  late  days,  and 
with  far  greater  success. 

The  short-lived  notoriety  of  "  the  second  reformation  " 
was  chiefly  due  to  the  ostentatious  patronage  of  it  by 
the  Protestant  aristocracy.  A  Mr.  Synge,  in  Clare,  Lord 
Lorton,  and  a  Mr.  McClintock,  at  Dundalk,  were  inde- 
fatigable in  their  attempts  at  fattening  'prize  converts 
for  evangelical  exhibitions.  The  Earl  of  Roden, — 
brother  to  the  Protestant  Bishop  of  Clogher,  convicted 
of  nameless  crimes, — to  show  his  entire  dependence  on 
the  translated  Bible,  —  threw  all  his  other  books  into  a 
fish  pond  on  his  estate.  Maxwell,  Lord  Farnham,  was 
still  more  conspicuous  in  the  revival ;  he  spared  neither 
patronage  nor  writs  of  ejectment  to  convert  his  tenantry. 
The  vaunting  reports  of  conversions  upon  his  lordship's 
estates,  and  throughout  his  county,  attracted  so  much 
notice,  that  Drs.  Curtis,  CroUy,  Magauran,  O'Reilly, 
and  McHale  met  on  the  9th  of  December,  1826,  at  Ca- 
van,  to  inquire  into  the  facts.  They  found  that,  while 
there  had  been  gross  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  the 
reformers,  yet  that  a  few  hundreds  of  the  peasantry  had, 
by  various  powerful  temptations,  been  led  into  apostasy. 
Their  lordships^  while  there,  received  back  some  of  the 

: -t - 

«  Life  «f  Dr.  Doyle,  pp.  184,  185.   N«w  York:  D.  &  J.  Sadlier. 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


329 


&  J.  Sadlier. 


unfortunates,  and  the  following  jubilee  brought  nearly 
all  the  rest,  in  tears  of  heartfelt  sorrow,  to  the  confes- 
sional. The  Hon.  Mr.  Noel  and  Captain  Gordon  posted 
to  Cavan,  and  waited  upon  the  bishops  with  a  challenge 
to  discuss  do-^^^'ines  with  them.  Of  course,  their  cartel 
was  not  received  by  the  prelates.  Moore's  inimitable 
satire  was  the  most  effective  weapon  against  such 
fanatics.* 

In  the  reign  of  George  IV.  the  Irish  and  British  press 
was  more  occupied  with  Catholic  subjects  than  with 
any  other.  Of  her  own  children  the  church  reckoned 
Drs.  Milner  and  Doyle,  Thomas  Moore,  Charles  But- 
ler, and  some  others  less  known  among  her  defenders ; 
of  "  liberal  Protestants,"  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Mr.  Jef- 
frey, Sydney  Smith,  and  William  Cobbett  deserve  spe- 
cial remembrance.  In  opposition  to  these,  the  writers  of 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  then  in  its  prime,  Archbishop 
Magee  of  Dublin,  and  the  Rev.  George  Croly,  since 
rector  of  St.  Stephen's,  London,  were  most  conspicuous. 

*  Thomas  Furlong,  not  inaptly  called  the  Irish  Churchill,  (though  his 
personal  character  embraced  all  the  virtues  Churchill's  wanted,)  had  a 
considerable  share  in  the  biblical  war.  As  a  specimeji  of  his  powers,  we 
give  his  portrait  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Graham,  of  MagUligan,  a  small-beer 
poet,  and  a  foaming  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  in  Ulster :  — 

*<  Lo,  OS  his  second,  in  these  troublous  times, 
Comes  crazy  Graham,  with  his  ribald  rhymes. 
View  the  vUe  doggerel,  slowly  dragged  tdong, 
To  mock  at  grief^  and  sneer  away  a  wrong. 
Mark  how  he  stoops,  laboriously  to  drain 
The  last,  low  oozing  of  his  muddy  brain, 
Until,  at  length,  as  champion  of  the  cause, 
He  gains  his  end  —  promotion  and  applause. 
It  comes !  'tis  his  —  his  object  from  the  first  — 
'Tis  his  !  and  now  let  Popery  do  its  worst. 
Tlie  low-bom  crowd  may  toil  to  swell  his  pride, 
'Tis  his  to  take,  to  triumph,  and  deride ; 
'Tis  his  of  new-framed  acts  to  make  the  best, 
To  jeer  his  slaves,  and  call  his  faith  a  jest ; 
'Tis  his  to  grasp  what  cant  or  craft  hath  won  j 
'Tis  theirs  to  strive,  to  struggle,  and  pay  on. 
View  this,  ye  dolts,  who  prate  about  the  poor ; 
View  it,  ye  scribes,  and  say,  shall  it  endure  ? 
View  it,  ye  race,  who  reason  from  the  past, 
And  ask  your  hearts  if  such  can  always  last." 

The  Plagues  of  Ireland,  a  Poem.    Dublin :  1827. 

28* 


I . 


'1*/. 


330 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


Some  of  the  Blackwood  writers,  and  both  the  latter 
were  Irish  Protestants.  When,  in  1827,  the  Wellington 
administration  came  into  office,  there  could  be  little 
doubt  upon  which  side  the  most  heart  and  learning  was 
engaged. 

The  intimate  connection  of  argument  and  action,  in 
the  career  of  the  Catholic  Association,  gives  a  coherency 
and  interest  to  its  records  which  no  mere  agitation  could 
supply.  Every  year  new  facts  come  up,  marking  the  ac- 
tual progress  better  than  words.  The  holding  of  simul- 
taneous meetings,  the  deputations  to  England,  the  evi- 
dence before  Parliament,  the  foreign  subsidies  received, 
the  taking  of  a  Catholic  census,  and  establishment  of 
"  liberal  clubs,"  are  events  which  may  be  said  to  rise  to 
the  dignity  of  historical.  They  kept  the  orators  in  coun- 
tenance, and  the  people  of  good  cheer.  We  now  ap- 
proach their  natural  conclusion  —  "the  Clare  election," 
at  which  O'Connell  was  returned  to  Parliament,  in  June 
1828 ;  and  the  fact  that  the  lo'ig-sought-for  relief  bill, 
"  received  the  royal  assent "  in  April,  1829. 

Mr.  Fitzgerald,  the  sitting  member  for  Clare,  havip" 
accepted  office  early  in  1828,  under  the  Wellington  gov- 
ernment, and  Major  McNamara,  the  expected  "liberal 
Protestant"  candidate,  having  declined,  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, to  oppose  him,  Mr.  O'Connell  issued  his  address 
to  the  electors  —  a  document  which  is  the  very  reflex  of 
its  writer.     It  begins  thus :  — 

"  You  will  be  told  I  am  not  qualified  to  be  elected : 
'  the  assertion,  ray  friends,  is  untrue.  I  am  qualified  to 
'  be  elected,  and  to  be  your  representative.  It  is  true 
'that,  as  a  Catholic,  I  cannot,  and  of  course  never  will, 

*  take  the  oaths  at  present  prescribed  to  members  of  Par- 
'  liament ;   but  the  authority  which  created  these  oaths 

*  (the  Parliament)  can  abrogate  them ;  and  I  entertain 
'  a  confident  hope  that,  if  you  elect  me,  the  most  bigoted 
'of  our  enemies  will  see  the  necessity  of  removing  from 
'  the  chosen  representative  of  the  people  an  obstacle 
'  which  would  prevent  him  from  d6ing  his  duty  to  his 

*  king  and  to  his  country. 

**  The  oath  at  present  required  by  law  is,  '  that  the 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND 


331 


V  is,  *  that  the 


"  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  and  the  invocation  of  the  Blessed 
"  Virgin  Mary,  and  other  saints,  as  now  practised  in  the 
"  church  of  Rome,  are  impious  and  idolatrous.*  Of 
"  course  I  will  never  stain  my  soul  with  such  an  oath  : 
"  I  leave  that  to  my  honorable  opponent,  Mr.  Vesey  Fitz- 
"  gerald ;  he  has  often  taken  that  horrible  oath ;  he  is 
'■'  ready  to  take  ii  again,  and  asks  your  votes  to  enable 
"  him  so  to  swear.  I  would  rather  be  torn  limb  from 
"  limb  than  take  it.  Electors  of  the  county  of  Clare ! 
"  choose  between  me,  who  abominates  that  oath,  and 
"  Mr.  Vesey  Fitzgerald,  who  has  sworn  it  full  twenty 
"  times !  Return  me  to  Parliament,  and  it  is  probable 
"  that  such  a  blasphemous  oath  will  be  abolished  forever. 
"  As  your  representative,  I  will  try  the  question  with  the 
"  friends  in  Parliament  of  Mr.  Vesey  Fitzgerald.  They 
"  may  send  me  to  prison.  I  am  ready  to  go  there  to 
"  promote  the  cause  of  the  Catholics,  and  of  universal 
"  liberty.  The  discussion  which  the  attempt  to  exclude 
"  your  representative  from  the  House  of  Commons  must 
"  excite  will  create  a  sensation  all  over  Europe,  and 
"  produce  such  a  burst  of  contemptuous  indignation 
"  against  British  bigotry,  in  every  enlightened  country  in 
"  the  world,  that  the  voice  of  all  the  great  and  good  in 
"  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  being  joined  to  the 
"  universal  shout  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  will  over- 
"  power  every  opposition,  and  render  it  impossible  for 
"  Peel  and  Wellington  any  longer  to  close  the  doors  of 
"  the  constitution  against  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

"  Electors  of  the  county  of  Clare !  Mr.  Vesey  Fitz- 
"  gerald  claims  as  his  only  merit  that  he  is  a  friend  to 
"the  Catholics:  why,  I  am  a  Catholic  myself;  and  if 
"  he  be  sincerely  our  friend,  let  him  vote  for  me,  and 
"  raise  before  the  British  empire  the  Catholic  question  in 
"  my  humble  person,  in  the  way  most  propitious  to  my 
"  final  success.  But  no,  fellow-countrymen,  no ;  be  will 
"  make  no  sacrifice  to  that  cause  ;  he  will  call  himself 
"  your  friend,  and  act  the  part  of  your  worst  and  most 
"  unrelenting  enemy." 

After  a  short  but  animated  canvass,  and  six  days'  poll- 
ing, in  which  O' Council  was  sustained  by  the  clergy,  and 


y\i 


h 
■t 


332 


ATTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


■[jf-t! 


his  brilliant  staff,  Shiel,  Lawless,  Ronavne,  Father  Ma- 
guirc,  O' Gorman  Mahon,  and  Steele,  the  contest  ended. 
O'Connell  was  declared  duly  elected,  and  returned  to 
Dublin,  through  a  perfect  ovation.* 

The  remainder  of  the  year  was  the  very  agony  of 
expectation  to  all  parties.  The  ultra-Protestants  formed 
their  Brunswick  clubs,  to  oppose  the  liberal  clubs,  de- 
vised by  Mr.  Wyse,  and  adopted  by  the  Catholics.  The 
"  liberal  Protestants,"  with  the  Duke  of  Leinster  at  their 
head,  sent  forward  a  powerful  declaration  in  favor  <of 
emancipation.  The  Duke  of  "Wellington  gruffly  ac- 
knowledged "the  tin  case,"  without  saying  a  word  of 
its  contents ;  but  notes  from  him  and  the  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant, (Anglesea,)  both  holding  out  fair  promises,  were 
addressed  to  Primate  Curtis,  and  found  their  way  to 
the  public.  The  Orangemen  and  Catholics,  on  the 
Ulster  border,  were  in  the  highest  excitement,  and  civil 


mr-: 


ft? 


-?  *i 


•  ••  The  election,"  says  an  eye-witness,  •*  was  the  most  orderly  ever  con- 
tested in  Ireland :  the  Catholic  leaders  and  the  priests  exerted  themselves 
successfully  to  keep  the  people  quiet ;  they  forbade  them  to  touch  spirit- 
uous liquors,  and,  though  Father  Mathew  had  not  yet  appeared,  not  a 
single  glass  of  whiskey  was  tasted  by  any  of  the  peasantry  during  the 
election."  Some  strange  events  occurred :  Sir  Edward  O'Brien  assembled 
his  tenants  in  a  body,  to  march  to  the  hustings  and  vote  for  Fitzgerald ; 
Father  Murphy,  of  Corofln,  met  them,  harangued  them,  and,  placing 
himself  at  their  head,  led  them  into  Ennia,  and  polled  them,  to  a  man, 
for  O'Connell.  Father  Tom  Maguire  did  the  same  with  the  tenants  of 
Mr.  Augustine  Butler.  One  evening,  at  the  close  of  the  poll,  while  the 
crowd  waited  to  hear  the  number  annoimced,  a  Catholic  priest,  realizing 
in  his  appearance  Sir  Walter  Scott's  description  of  Habakkuk  Mucklc- 
wrath,  ascended  the  hustings,  and  in  a  sepulchral  voice  announced  that 
a  Catholic  had  that  day  voted  for  Fitzgerald.  Groans,  and  cries  of 
« Shame  ! '  burst  from  the  crowd.  •  Silence,'  said  the  priest ;  *  the  hand 
of  God  has  struck  him ;  he  has  just  died  of  apoplexy.  Pray  for  his 
soul.'  The  whole  multitude  knelt  down,  and  a  prayer  was  muttered  in 
sobs  and  tears.  The  announcement  was  correct ;  the  wretched  man  was 
so  affected  by  having  voted,  as  he  believed,  against  his  conscience  and  his 
country,  that  he  sunk  under  the  feeling.  On  the  6th  day  Mr.  Fitzgerald 
resigned  the  contest,  and  O'Connell  was  returned. 

"  The  consequences  of  this  victory  were  momentous :  aggregate  meet- 
ings were  held  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  at  which  many,  both  of 
the  Protestant  and  Catholic  aristocracy,  attended,  and  took  the  pledges 
dictated  by  the  Catholic  Association.  The  peasant  factions,  which  used 
to  meet  for  battle  on  every  holiday  and  every  fair,  met,  under  the  gui- 
dance of  the  agitators,  to  forswear  their  feuds,  and  join  hands  in  amity. 
The  tranquillity  of  Ireland  was  terrible." 


m 


I'UOTKSTaN'I'    HKI'OHMATION    in    IUKI.AM). 


333 


war  was  seriously  apprehended.  General  Thornton 
wrote  to  the  Dnke  of  Wellington  that  he  could  not  an- 
swer for  the  loyalty  of  the  troops  in  the  north,  while  at 
Limerick  and  other  garrisons  the  Catholic  and  Protest- 
ant soldiers  had  more  than  once  come  to  blows,  in  debat- 
ing the  merits  of  the  agitation.  After  long  and  humili- 
ating deliberations,  the  government  resolved  to  Introduce 
a  relief  bill,  without  a  veto,  or  a  provision  for  pensioning 
the  Irish  clergy.  The  influence  of  the  Marchioness  of 
Conyngham,  who  succeeded  her  of  Hertford  as  the 
king's  mistress,  was  said  to  have  been  used  to  secui  ;  the 
consent  of  George  IV. 

At  the  opening  of*  the  session  O'Connell  proceeded  to 
London,  and  being  presented  with  the  oaths  by  the 
clerk  of  the  house,  he  refused  to  be  sworn.  "  Because," 
said  he,  "  there  is  one  part  of  them  which  I  do  not  be- 
lieve to  be  true,  and  there  is  another  which  I  know  to  be 
false."  After  a  lengthy  discussion,  he  was  heard  at  the 
bar  of  the  house,  for  three  hours,  in  his  own  cause ;  his 
counsel,  Pollock,  Phillips,  and  Lynch,  were  also  heard  at 
length  before  a  committee  of  the  house.  Evidently,  he 
had  a  clear  title  to  sit ;  but  while  the  commifccee  of  inquiry 
was  still  debating  it,  the  "  emancipation  bill "  passed,  so 
worded  as  to  include  only  Catholics  thereafter  elected. 
This  was  at  George  IV.'s  special  de-iire,  and  was  aimed 
directly  and  exclusively  at  O'Connell. 

In  opening  the  session  of  1829,  the  king  recommended 
Parliament  "to  take  into  deliberate  consideration  the 
whole  condition  of  Ireland;  review  the  laws  which  im- 
pose civil  disabilities  on  his  majesty's  Roman  Catholic 
subjects ;  and  consider  whether  those  disabilities  can  be 
affected  consistently  with  the  full  and  permanent  security 
of  the  establishments  in  church  and  state,  with  the 
maintenance  of  the  reformed  religion  established  by  law, 
and  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  bishops  and  clergy 
of  the  realm,  and  c^  the  churches  committed  to  their 
charge.'*  On  the  same  day,  (the  5th  of  March,)  a  bill 
suppressing  the  Catholic  association  passed  both  houses, 
and  received  the  royal  assent.  But  the  asspciation  had 
anticipated  it  by  dissolving  a  few  days  previously.     Mr. 


11!'-    :  , 


334 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


Peel  next  moved  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  to  go  into 
a  "  consideration  of  the  civil  disabilities  of  his  majesty's 
Roman  Catholic  subjects."  This  motion,  after  a  two 
days'  debate,  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  188.  On  the 
10th  of  March,  the  bill  was  read  for  the  first  time,  and 
passed  without  opposition,  such  being  the  arrangement 
entered  into  while  in  committee.  But  even  in  five  days, 
the  ancient  bigotry  of  the  land  had  been  aroused ;  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  petitions  had  already  been  pre- 
sented against  it:  that  from  the  city  of  London  was 
signed  by  more  than  "  a  hundred  thousand  freeholders."  * 
On  the  17th  it  passed  to  a  second  reading,  and  on  the 
30th  to  a  third,  with  large  majorities  in  each  stage  of 
debate.  Out  of  320  members  who  voted  on  the  final 
reading,  178  were  in  its  favor.  On  the  31st  of  March  it 
was  carried  to  the  Lords  by  Mr.  Peel,  and  instantly  read 
a  first  time ;  and  two  days  later,  (on  the  2d  of  April,)  it 
was  read  a  second  time,  on  motion  of  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington: a  bitterly  contested  debate  of  three  days  fol- 
lowed. On  the  10th,  it  was  read  a  third  time,  and  passed 
by  a  majority  of  104. 
,  On  the  13th  of  April  the  bill  received  the  royal  assent. 
It  was  hailed  in  Ireland  with  acclamations,  but  the  merit 
of  it  was  chiefly  given  to  the  association  founded  in 
1823,  and  conducted  with  so  much  energy  during  six 
years  by  O'Connell  and  his  coadjutors. 

By  this  bill,  both  houses  of  Parliament  and  all  judicial 
offices  were  thrown  open  to  Catholics —^  the  power  of 
altering,  or  making,  and  of  administering,  laws.  The 
bill  of  1778  had  recognized  the  right  of  Catholics  to 
possess  property;  the  bill  of  1793  had  given  them  the 
franchise  and  partial  freedom  of  instruction ;  the  bill  of 
1829  gave  them  legislative  and  judicial  power.  The 
freedom  of  the  municipalities,  the  commutation  of  tithes, 
and  the  abolition  of  the  proselytizing  schools,  followed 
the  admission  of  the  Catholics  into  the  next  ensuing 
Parliament.! 

*  Rev.  G.  Croly's  Life  of  George  IV. 

t  In  August,  1832,  was  first  proposed  Mr.  Stanley's    commutation 
tithe  act,  which  reduced  and  reformed  the  impost,  and  became  law  in 


PROTESTANT    REFORMATION    IN    IRELAND. 


2S5 


use,  to  go  into 
his  majesty's 

after  a  two 
L88.  On  the 
rst  time,  and 
arrangement 
I  in  five  days, 
roused;  nine 
idy  been  pre- 
London  was 
freeholders."  * 
»,  and  on  the 
ach  stage  of 

on  the  final 
\t  of  March  it 
instantly  read 
i  of  April,)  it 
Duke  of  Wel- 
ree  days  fol- 
ic, and  passed 

royal  assent. 

but  the  merit 
n  founded  in 
ly  during  six 

id  all  judicial 

;he  power  of 

.  laws.     The 

Catholics  to 

iren  them  the 

n ;  the  bill  of 

power.     The 

ition  of  tithes, 

ools,  followed 

next  ensuing 


y's    commutation 
nd  became  law  in 


But  this  emancipation  was  still  imperfect;  it  did  not 
legalize  the  religious  orders;  it  expressly  forbade  the 
bishops  taking  the  tithes  of  their  sees,  and  it  was  accom- 
panied by  another  act,  disfranchising  the  "  forty  shilling 
freeholders,"  and  limiting  the  qualification  for  voters  in 
Ireland  to  twelve  pound  holdings.  It  was  a  victory,  but 
it  had  its  cost 

It  also  expressly  excluded  O'Connell,  who,  however, 
was  soon  reelected,  and  on  the  first  day  of  the  session  of 
1830,  took  his  seat  in  the  house.  Excepting  King 
James's  Parliament,  he  was  the  first  Catholic  for  above 
two  centuries  who  had  been  permitted  to  exercise  the 
functions  of  a  legislator  at  Westminster.  The  death  of 
George  IV.,  in  1830,  occasioned  a  general  election ;  and 
Shiel,  Wyse,  O'Dwyer,  Lawless,  Ronayne,  and  above 
forty  other  emancipators,  followed  their  chief  into  the 
councils  of  the  empire.  Of  their  course  of  conduct  there 
we  leave  others  to  speak.  Our  present  narrative  does  not 
extend  to  the  recent  records  of  the  imperial  Parliament. 

In  the  year  of  our  Lord  183C,  the  Protestant  establish- 
ment,  glfter  three  centuries  of  such  warfare  as  we  have 
witnessed,  stood  humbled,  and  conscious  of  defeat,  be- 
fore the  unconquered  faith  of  the  Irish  nation.  Wonder- 
ful result  of  God's  grace,  aiding  and  sustaining  a  weak 
people !  Lesson  of  lessons  to  the  pride  and  ambition  of 
heresy  backed  by  temporal  power ! 

In  1830,  the  Catholics  in  Ireland  were  over  six  million 
souls,*  hR,ving  twenty-six  bishops  and  nearly  three  thou- 
sand priests.  Their  national  college  was  overcrowded 
with  pupils  free  to  come  and  go.  Every  diocese  had  its 
seminary,  and  more  than  half  the  parishes  had  good 

November,  1834.  The  parsons  were  terribly  annoyed  by  the  new  com- 
mutation act ;  they  announced  their  miseries,  and  proclaimed  aloud  their 
starving  condition ;  nay,  so  far  did  they  carry  this  beggar's  opera  or  farce, 
that  they  actually  petitioned  the  treasury  for  a  loan  of  one  million 
pounds  sterling,  to  save  them  from  utter  destitution. —  O'Connell  atid 
his  Friends. 

•  By  the  census  of  1834,  the  exact  numbers  are  —  Roman  Catholics, 
six  million  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  thousand  5  Protestants  of  the 
established  church,  eight  hundred  and  fifty- two  thousand ;  Presbyterians, 
six  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand ;  making  in  all  nearly  eight  millions 
of  souli. 


1^  I 


'  ,  ( 


336 


AtTEMPTS    TO    ESTABLISH    THE 


schools.*  They  had  repurchased  a  third  of  the  real  prop- 
erty of  the  country,  and  were  growing  on  the  sectarian 
proprietary ;  they  stood  equal  to  the  favored  disciples  of 
the  state,  in  law,  physic,  and  human  learning.  They 
were  represented  at  the  press,  on  the  bench,  and  in  Par- 
liament. As  the  mass  cave  and  the  stone  altar  gave 
way  to  barn  chapels,  so  these,  in  turn,  disappeared  in  the 
shadows  of  new  and  stately  imitations  of  the  old  temples 
of  the  island. 

Abroad,  the  terms  Irishman  and  Catholic  were  synon- 
ymous. An  Irish  Protestant  was  looked  on  as  a  rare 
man,  a  curiosity,  a  contradiction,  a  paradox. 

The  Anglicans  in  Ireland,  at  the  same  period,  were 
about  three  quarters  of  a  million — the  Presbyterians  a 
little  over  half.  Taken  together,  they  were  to  the  Cath- 
olics rather  less  than  one  in  seven.  Such  was  the  final 
result,  after  all  the  wars,  confiscations,  famines,  proscrip- 
tions, penalties,  executions,  endowments,  and  proselytism 
which  we  have  traced  through  the  reigns  of  twel  /e  ^'^rot- 
estant  sovereigns. 

At  the  close  of  its  third  century.  Protestantism  *  Tie- 
land,  though  stripped  of  its  early  supremacy,  was  still  rich 
in  mere  revenues.  "  It  is  on  record,"  says  an  intelligent 
author,  "that  three  bishops,  in  fifteen  years,  left  seven 
hundred  thousand  pounds  to  their  families.  A  bishop 
of  Clogher  went  to  Ireland  without  a  shilling,  and  after 
eight  years  died  worth  four  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
The  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  who  died  in  1826,  left  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  pounds  to  his  children." 

"  By  the  probates  at  Doctors'  Commons,  it  appeared, 
in  1828,  that  the  personal  property  of  twenty-four  bish- 


♦  At  a  meeting  in  Leitrim  in  1826,  Father  Maguire  said,  ••There 
were  five  schools  in  my  parish,  under  the  plan  of  the  Hibernian  School 
Society.  I  warned  the  people  not  to  send  their  children  to  them,  and  at 
the  same  time  set  a  subscription  on  foot,  by  collecting  a  penny  a  week 
from  some,  and  a  halfpenny  a  week,  from  others,  and  paying  five  guin" 
eas  a  year  myself.  I  was  able  to  establish  eight  schools  in  their  stead. 
They  are  now  open  to  public  inspection,  and  I  would  venture  to  say,  that 
the  children  improve  fester  and  make  a  greater  progrvoas  in  learning  than 
any  of  those  in  the  Hibernian  schools. " 


the  real  prop- 
the  sectarian 
d  disciples  of 
rning.  They 
I,  and  in  Par- 
le  altar  gave 
>peared  in  the 
ve  old  temples 

;  were  synon- 
on  as  a  rare 

X. 

!  period,  were 
resbyterians  a 
e  to  the  Cath- 
[  was  the  final 
lines,  proscrip- 
id  proselytism 
f  twelve  *^^rot- 

antism  •  I  e- 
r,  was  still  rich 

an  intelligent 
irs,  left  seven 
es.  A  bishop 
ling,  and  after 
isand  pounds. 

left  one  hun- 
hildren." 

• 

3,  it  appeared, 
jnty-four  bish- 


iiire  said,  "There 
Hibernian  School 
en  to  them,  and  at 
g  a  penny  a  week 
paying  five  guin- 
ools  in  their  stead. 
enture  to  say,  that 
m  in  learning  than 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


337 


ops,  who  ha,d  died  within  the  preceding  twenty  years, 
amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of  one  million  six  hun- 
dred and  forty-nine  thousand  pounds — an  average  of 
nearly  seventy  thousand  pounds  for  each  bishop.  This 
was  the  sworn  value  of  the  personal  property  only,  and 
some  of  the  bishops  are  known  to  have  had  very  large 
possessions  in  real  property. 

"  Nor  have  they  been  at  all  particular  as  to  the  mode 
of  amassing  their  wealth.  The  Earl  of  Bristol,  when 
Bishop  of  Derry,  realized  four  thousand  pounds  a  year, 
by  the  ingenious  practice  of  buying  up  old  church  leases, 
holden  under  himself,  and  granting  new  ones  for  fines, 
of  course,  considerably  larger  than  the  sums  he  thus 
paid."  * 

*  Book  of  the  Poor  Man's  Church.  From  another  English  publica- 
tion, we  select  a  few  figures  in  relation  to  the  same  period  of  time. 

**  Mr.  Grattan,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1842,  produced  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  a  debate  touching  this  subject,  the  following  extracts  from 
the  probate  of  wills  in  Ireland  for  some  years  previous.    It  appears  that 


Fowler,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  left,  at  his  death, 

Beresford,  Archbishop  of  Tuam, 

Agar,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,    . 

Stopford,  Bishop  of  Cork, 

Percy,  Bishop  of  Dromore, 

Cleaver,  Bishop- of  Ferns,     ., 

Bernard,  Bishop  of  Limerick,  . 

Porter,  Bishop  of  Clogher,    . 

Hawkins,  of  Kaphoe, 

Knox,  of  Kil)»loe, 


£150,000 

.    250,000 

400,000 

.      25,000 

40,000 

.      50,000 

60,000 

.    250,000 

250,000 

.    100,000 


Total,       .....  £1,575,000" 

From  the  publication  already  quoted  we  select  the  following  statistics, 
in  proof  of  the  rapacity  of  the  Anglo-Irish  church :  — 
••  There  are  benefices  in  the  Irish  Church,      .  .        .      1,556 

One  of  which  (ia  the  county  of  Down)  is  worth  per  an.,  £2,800 


Ten  between 

Twenty, 

Twenty-three, 

Forty-eight, 

Seventy-four,   .        . 

One  hundred  and  forty-eight, 

Four  hundred  and  eighty-one. 

Three  hundred  and  eighty-six. 

Four  hundred  and  sixty-five,  . 

Number  of  acres, 

"If  we  estimate  the  acres,"  continues  our  authority, "  at  £1  per  acre,  it 

29 


£2,000  and  2,600 

1,500 

2,000 

.  1,200 

1,500 

1,000 

1,200 

.   800 

1,000 

600 

800 

.   400 

600 

300 

400 

30 

200 

•       1 

669,257 

I!, 


:|i 


.( 


338 


ATTEMPTS    TO   ESTABLISH    THE 


The  college  and  bishops'  lands  granted  in  the  old  con- 
fiscations were  another  source  of  ecclesiastical  revenue, 
valued  at. some  hundreds  of  thousands  per  annum. 

Of  the  internal  arrangement  of  the  Irish  church  Dr. 
Doyle  gave,  in  1825,  the  following  answers  to  the  com- 
mittee of  Parliament :  — 

"  What  are  the  different  degrees  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
"  olic  church  in  Ireland? — The  degrees  are,  an  arch- 
"  bishop,  a  bishop,  and  where  there  is  a  chapter,  it  consists 
**  of  a  dean  with  some  other  dignitaries  and  prebends. 

"  What  other  kind  of  dignitaries  ?  —  Chan^elloi*y,  pre- 
"  centOrs,  and  so  forth;  the  same  dignitaries  precisely  as 
"  those  of  the  chapters  of  the  establishment  Next  cdme 
'<  the  parish  priests,  and  then  their  curates.  Besides 
"  those,  each  bishop  has  one  or  two  vicars  general,  and 
^^  also  as  many  rural  deans  as  the  necessity  or  extent  of 
"  the  diocese  may  seem  to  him  to  require. 

•  ••••• 

"  Have  you  any  idea  of  the  actual  number  of  parish 
"  priests,  and  coadjutors  in  Ireland  ? — I  believe  the  num- 
*'  ber  of  parish  priests  is  about  one  thousand,  and,  at  an 
"  average,  I  should  suppose  that  each  of  them  has  a 
<<  coadjutor :  in  some  parishes  the  parish  priest  has  no 
"  coadjutor;  in  others  the  parish  priest  may  have  two. 

"  Are  not  the  parishes  in  the  Roman  Catholic  church, 
"  generally  speaking,  the  same  as  those  in  the  Protes- 


will  yield  £660,257  for  the  bishops'  lands  alone.  There  are  also  13,603,473 
acres  of  land  subject  to  tithe,  all  of  which  is  a  grievous  tax  upon  the 
poor,  either  in  the  shape  of  rent  charges  or  otherwise. 

''  The  report  of  the  commissioners  states  that  in  Ireland  there  are  one 
hundred  and  fifty-one  parishes  having  no  meintber  of  the  church  qfEnffland, 
and  eight  hundred  and  sixty  parishes  having  less  than  seventy-seven 
Protestants. 

*'  Parliamentary  grants  since  the  Union  in  1800,  in  Ireland :  — 


For  building  Protestant  churches, 

For  building  glebe  houses. 

For  Protestant  charity  schools,     . 

For  Church  Society  to  discountenance  vice, 

For  Kildare  Place  Society,   .        .        .        • 


£525,371 
336,889 

1,105,867 
101,991 
170,502 


Total, 


.    £2,240,620" 
7%0  Biach  Book  for  1844. 


T  'I 


PROTESTANT  REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND. 


339 


khe  old  Gon- 
ial revenue, 
mum. 
church  Dr. 
CO  the  com- 

>man  Cath- 
re,  an  arch- 
er, it  consists 
[)rebends. 
ivellora,  pre- 
precisely  as 
Next  cOme 
;s.  Besides 
general,  and 
or  extent  of 


>er  of  parish 
jve  thenum- 
1,  and,  at  an 
them  has  a 
riest  has  no 
have  two. 
tiolic  church, 
the  Protes- 


)  also  13,603,473 
s  tax  upon  the 

i  there  are  one 
urch  of  England, 
I  seventy-seven 

land:  — 

£525,371 
336,889 

1,105,867 
101,991 
170,502 

£2,240,620" 
Book/or  1844. 


"  tant? — I  might  say  generally  ao,  but  not  universally^ 
"  by  any  means.  • 

"  Are  there  various  unions  of  parishes  in  the  Catholic 
"church?— Yes. 

"  You  mentioned  that  in  filling  up  vacancies  in  par- 
"  ishes,  the  bishops  selected  those  of  their  diocese  whom 
**  they  thought  the  most  deserving :  do  you  mean  to  say 
"  they  never  go  out  of  the  diocese  to  select  ?  —  They  have 
**  a  power  of  doing  so,  but  I  have  not  known  any  case 
"  wherein  they  have  exercised  that  power.  I  should  not 
"  consider  myself  at  liberty  to  go  out  of  the  diocese 
"  where  I  live,  because  the  clergymen  officiating  within 
"  the  diocese  consider,  and  I  also  consider,  that  they 
"  have  a  right  to  such  livings  as  may  happen  to  become 
"  viEicant ;  so  that  to  bring  in  a  stranger,  and  exclude 
"  them,  would,  in  my  mind,  be  unjust. 

"  Is  there  a  chapter  in  your  diocese  ?  —  There  is  no 
"  chapter  in  my  diocese. 

"  Are  there  chapters  in  many  of  the  Catholic  dioceses  ? 
"  —  There  are. 

"  Does  the  bishop  name  to  the  offices  in  the  chapter  ? 
"  —  To  all  offices  except  to  that  of  dean. 

"  Who  names  to  that  of  dean  ?  —  The  pope  appoints 
"  to  the  office  of  dean."  * 

In  the  same  evidence  he  explained  how  the  parish 
priests  elected  three  candidates  for  each  vacant  bishopric, 
from  whom  the  pope  habitually  selected  one  to  fill  the 
office.  He  also  stated  that  the  average  income  of  the 
parish  priests,  from  voluntary  subscriptions,  was  about 
three  hundred  pounds  per  year ;  which,  in  the  aggregate, 
would  be  less  than  one  fifth  of  the  income  of  the  estab- 
lishment. The  same  proportion  holds  as  to  means  of 
education :  Trinity  College  receives  from  public  sources 
tenfold  the  income  of  Maynooth. 

The  amount  of  special  Parliamentary  grants  for  church 
building,  repairing,  and  other  purposes,  is  almost  incal- 
culable.    During  the  last  forty  years,  the  dioceses  of 

*  At  the  census  of  1841,  there  were  in  Ireland  2361  priests,  138  con- 
vents, including  the  four  orders,  and  13  colleges. 


340 


ATTEMPTS  TO  ESTABLISH  THB 


Tuain  and  Ki]lala  alone  have  received  above  seven 
million  dollars  of  public  mon«y,  for  the  spiritual  guardian- 
ship of  whom  there  is  "  church  accommodation"  only  for 
seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty  souls.* 

No  figures  of  arithmetic  or  of  speech  can  express  this 
contrast  between  Catholicity  and  Protestantism  in  Ire- 
land. The  one  was  stripped  naked,  scourged,  crowned 
with  thorns,  crucified^ the  other  imperial,  clothed  in 
gold  and  jewels,  armed  with  life  and  death  to  the  body, 
victorious  in  battle,  deadly  in  revenge.  Catholicity  de- 
scends into  the  tomb,  to  arise  again  glorified  and  immor- 
tal; while  Protestantism,  like  Herod,  sits  on  its  throne 
in  gloomy  grandeur,  powerful  to  destroy,  but  incapable 
of  the  conquest  of  a  single  pious  soul.  The  contrast, 
old  as  the  cross,  of  the  church  and  the  world,  in  no 
modern  nation  is  so  boldly  defined  as  in  England  and 
Ireland.  \ 

The  martyr  age  of  the  Irish  church  has  come  upon  it 
the  last.  Its  first  centuries  were  illumined  with  a  mul- 
titude of  mild  lights,  burning  in  an  atmosphere  of  peace. 
The  doctors  preceded  the  martyrs.  Now,  not  alone  the 
foundations,  but  the  finished  edifice,  in  every  part,  has 
been  soaked  and  cemented  with  the  blood  of  devoted 


♦  See  A  Letter  to  the  Hon.  A.  Kinnaird,  Treasurer  of  the  Mary-le-bone 
and  Faddington  Auxiliary  Society  for  Church  Missions,  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  By  William  Shee,  Esq.,  Serjeant-at-Law.  Burns 
&  Lambert,  1852.  This  Letter  contains  much  curious  and  valuable 
Btatistical  information  on  the  Anglican  establishment  in  Ireland. 

In  his  speech  on  the  Maynooth  grant,  ?'n  the  session  of  1852,  Mr. 
Vicent  Scully,  M.  P.  for  Cork,  adduced  the  following  facts,  which  were 
not  disputed :  «•  The  church  titles  of  Ireland  were  stated  by  Mr.  Leslie 
Foster  to  be  about  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  the  lands 
belonging  to  the  bishops  of  Ireland  to  about  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  thousand  pounds,  independent  of  other  church  lands.  So  that  all 
the  landed  property  connected  with  the  Irish  church  establishment,  in- 
cluding its  college  lands,  are  at  least  a  million  of  acres.  The  entire  reve- 
nue, direct  and  indirect,  of  the  established  church  in  Ireland,  cannot 
be  estimated  much  under  two  millions  a  year ;  and  if  you  add  to  this 
enormous  sum  rather  more  than  a  million  a  year  for  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing an  extra  force  of  police  and  military,  it  will  be  seen  that  you  require 
for  the  support  of  the  established  church  in  Ireland  a  sum  of  not  less, 
in  round  numbers,  than  three  millions  a  year,  in  order  to  provide  spirit- 
ual food  for  the  six  hundred  thousand  of  the  comparatively  rich  Protes- 
tants of  Ireland." 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION   IN   IRELAND.  341 

priests  and  laymen.  From  side  to  side,  the  Irish  soil 
bears  the  red  cross  upon  its  bosom,  traced  there  by  the 
perpetual  sacrifice  of  life  which  has  followed  all  the  vain 
attempts  to  establish  the  reformation. 

That  good  God,  who  denied  our  fatherland  domestic 
peace,  has  consecrated  her  to  a  holy  war,  glorious,  though 
sorrowful.  Our  Lord  has  suffered;  the  saints  have 
suffered;  Ireland  has  suffered.  If  nations  could  be  can- 
onized, she  might  well  claim  the  institution  of  the 
prpcesp 

O  der,  whose  eyer  "-r»  on  this  page,  if,  haply,  you 
atv.  of  iw..  race  that  has  Sw.iiered  most  for  God,  I  beseech 
you,  as  a  true  friend,  reflect  well  on  your  own  concerns. 
Where  do  you  stand?  What  do  you  seek?  Riches, 
success,  and  worldly  honors  were  with  the  Elizabeths, 
Cromwells,  and  Williams^  whom  your  fathers  so  stoutly 
opposed.  The  Persecutor  and  the  Puritan  are  gone.  Your' 
Catholic  ancestors  are  also  dead.  With  which  of  these 
do  you  desire  your  s<5ul  may  be  everlastingly  ?  If  with 
your  fathers,  then  be  like  your  fathers  —  firm  in  the 
faith,  even  unto  death.  So  may  your  souls  hasten  to 
rejoin  their  souls,  where  "the  wicked  cease  from  trou- 
bling and  the  weary  jire  at  rest." 
29* 


i 


Fit 


APPENDIX. 


NO.  I. 


THE    CIVIL  AND   MILITARY  ARTICLES   OF 

LIMERICK.  • 

Exactly  printed  from  the  Letters  Patents ;  wherein  they  are 
ratified  and  exemplified  by  their  Majesties,  under  the 
Great  Seal  of  England. 

GuLiELMus  et  Maria,  Dei  gratia  Anglis,  Scotis,  Francie,  et 
Hiberniffi  Rex  et  Regina,  Fidei  Defensores,  &c.  Omnibus  ad  quos 
pnecentes  liters  nostne  pervenerint  salutem :  inspeximus  irrotuiument 
quarund.  literarum  patentium  de  confirmatione,  geren.  dat  apud 
Westmonasterium  vicesitno  quarto  die  Februarii,  ultimi  pneteriti  in  can- 
c^lar.  nostr.  irrotulat.  ac  ibidem  de  recordo  remanen.  in  hiec  verba. 
William  and  Mary,  by  the  grace  of  God,  &c.  To  all  to  whom  these  pres- 
ents shall  come,  greeting.  Whereas  certain  articles,  bearing  date  the 
third  day  of  October  last  past,  made  and  agreed  on  between  our  jus- 
tices of  our  kingdom  of  Ireland,  and  our  general  of  our  forces  there  on 
the  one  part ;  and  several  officers  there,  commanding  within  the  city  of 
Limerick,  in  our  said  kingdom,  on  the  other  part.  Whereby  our  said 
justices  and  general  did  undertake  that  we  should  ratify  those  articles, 
within  the  space  of  eight  months,  or  sooner ;  and  use  their  utmost  en- 
deavors that  the  same  should  be  ratified  and  confirmed  in  Parliament 
The  tenor  of  which  said  articles  is  as  follows,  viz :  — 


ARTICLES 

w%ree(i  upon  the  ihird  day  of  October ,  one  thovsand  six  hundred  and 

nifiety-oney 

Between  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Charles  Porter,  Knight,  and  Thomas 
Coningsby,  Esq.,  Lords  Justices  of  Ireland ;  and  his  Excellency  the 
Baron  de  Ginckle,  Lieutenant  General,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  English  Army,  on  the  one  part : 

And  the  Right  Honorable  Patrick  Earl  of  Lucan,  Piercy,  Viscount  Gall- 
moy,  Colonel  Nicholas  Purcel,  Colonel  Nicholas  Cusack,  Sir  Toby 


f« 


'M 
m 


344 


APPENDIX. 


■I 


Butler,  Colonel  Garret  Dillon,  and  Colonel  John  Brown,  on  the  other 
part: 

In  the  behalf  of  the  Irish  inhabitants  in  the  City  and  Coanty  of  Lim- 
erick, the  counties  of  Clare,  Kerry,  Cork,  Sligo,  and  Mavo. 

In  consideration  of  the  Surrender  of  the  City  of  Limerick,  and  other 
Agreements  made  between  the  said  Lieutenant  General  Ginckle,  the 
Governor  of  the  City  of  Limerick,  and  the  Generals  of  the  Irish 
army,  bearing  date  with  these  Presents,  for  the  Surrender  of  the 
City,  and  Submission  of  the  said  Army :  it  is  agreed,  that, 

I.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  this  kingdom  shall  enjoy  such  privi- 
leges in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  as  arc  consistent  with  the  laws  of 
Ireland ;  or  as  they  did  enjoy  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  the  Second : 
and  their  majesties,  as  soon  as  their  affairs  will  permit  them  to  summon 
a  Parliament  in  this  kingdom,  will  endeavor  to  procure  the  said  Roman 
Catholics  such  farther  security  in  that  particular,  as  mmj  preserve  them 
from  any  disturbance  upon  the  account  of  their  said  rdigion. 

II.  AH  tlie  inhabitants  or  residents  of  Limerick,  or  any  other  garri- 
son now  in  the  possession  of  the  Irish,  and  all  officers  and  soldiers  now 
in  arms,  under  any  commission  of  King  James,  or  those  authorized  by 
him,  to  grant  the  same  in  the  several  counties  of  Limerick,  Clare,  Kerry, 
Cork,  and  Mayo,  or  any  of  them ;  and  all  the  commissioned  officers  m 
their  majesties'  quarters,  that  belong  to  the  Irish  regiments,  now  in  be- 
ing, that  are  treated  with,  and  who  are  not  prisoners  of  war,  or  have 
taken  protection,  and  who  shall  return  and  submit  to  their  majesties' 
obedience ;  and  their  and  every  of  their  heirs,  shall  hold,  possess, 
and  enjoy,  all  and  every  their  estates  of  freehold  and  inheritance  ;  and 
all  the  rights,  titles  and  interest,  privileges  and  immunities,  which  they, 
and  every  or  any  of  them  held,  enjoyed,  or  were  rightfully  and  lawfully 
entitled  to  in  the  reign  of  King  Cnarles  II.,  or  at  any  time  since,  by  the 
laws  and  statutes  that  were  in  force  in  the  said  reign  of  King  Charles 
11.,  and  shall  be  pyt  in  possession,  by  order  of  the  government,  of  such 
of  them  as  are  in  the  king's  hands,  or  the  hands  of  his  tenants,  with- 
out being  put  to  any  suit  or  trouble  therein ;  and  all  such  estates  shall 
be  freed  and  discharged  from  all  arrears  of  crown  rents,  quit  rents, 
and  other  public  charges,  incurred  and  become  due  since  Michaelmas, 
1688,  to  the  day  of  the  date  hereof:  and  all  persons  comprehended  in 
this  article  shall  have,  hold,  and  enjoy  all  their  goods  and  chattels,  real 
and  personal,  to  them,  or  any  of  them  belonging,  and  remaining  either 
in  their  own  hands,  or  in  the  hands  of  any  persons  whatsoever,  in  trust 
for,  or  for  the  use  of  them,  or  any  of  them  :  and  all,  and  every  the  said 
persons,  of  what  profession,  trade  or  calling  soever  they  be,  shall  and 
may  use,  exercise,  and  practice  their  several  and  respective  profes- 
sions, trades,  and  callings,  as  freely  as  they  did  use,  exercise,  and  enjoy 
the  same  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II. :  provided  that  nothing  in  this 
article  contained  be  construed  to  extend  to,  or  restore  any  foifeitiiig 
person  now  out  of  the  kingdom,  except  what  are  hereafter  comprised ; 
provided  also,  that  no  person  whatsoever  shall  have  or  enjoy  the  l>ene- 
fits  of  this  article,  that  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  take  the  oath  of  alle- 


n,  on  the  other 

[!oanty  of  Lim- 

Mayo. 

jricK,  and  other 

ral  Ginckle,  the 

Is  of  the  Irish 

irrender  of  the 

that, 

ijoy  such  privi- 
^ith  the  laws  of 
lea  the  Second : 
hem  to  summon 
the  said  Roman 
y  preserve  them 
ion, 

%ay  other  garri- 
.nd  soldiers  now 
e  authorized  by 
k,  Clare,  Kerry, 
oned  officers  in 
jnts,  now  in  be- 
of  war,  or  have 
their  majesties* 
hold,  possess, 
jheritance ;  and 
ies,  which  they, 
illy  and  lawfully 
ne  since,  by  the 
f  King  Charles 
ninent,  of  such 
}  tenants,  with- 
ch  estates  shall 
ents,  quit  rents, 
ce  Michaelmas, 
oniprehended  in 
nd  chattels,  real 
emaining  either 
tsoever,  in  trnst 
d  every  the  said 
By  be,  shall  and 
3pective  profes- 
srcise,  and  enjoy 
t  nothing  in  this 
e  any  forfeiting 
ifter  comprised ; 
enjoy  the  "bene- 
le  oath  of  alle- 


APPENDIX. 


345 


glance,*  made  by  act  of  Parliament  in  England,  in  the  first  year  of  the 
reign  of  their  present  majesties,  when  thereunto  required. 

ni.  All  merchants,  or  reputed  merchants,  of  the  city  of  Limerick, 
or  of  any  other  garrison  now  possessed  by  the  Irish,  or  of  any  town  or 
place  in  the  counties  of  Clare  or  Kerry,  who  are  absent  beyond  the 
seas,  that  have  not  borne  arms  since  their  tuajostids'  declaration  in 
February,  1688,  shall  have  the  benefit  of  tJie  second  article,  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  they  were  present ;  provided  such  merchants,  and  reputed 
merchants,  do  repair  into  this  kingdom  within  the  space  of  eight  months 
from  the  date  hereof. 

IV.  The  following  officers,  viz..  Colonel  Simon  Luttcrcl,  Captain 
Rowland  White,  Maurice  Eustace  of  Yermanstown,  Chieveas  of  Mays- 
town,  corr^nionly  called  Mount  Leinster,  now  belonging  to  the  regiments 
in  the  aforesaid  garrisons  and  quarters  of  the  Irish  army,  who  were 
beyond  the  seas,  and  sent  thither  upon  affiiirs  of  their  respective  regi- 
ments, or  the  army  in  general,  shall  have  the  benefit  and  advantage  of 
the  second  article,  provided  they  return  hither  within  the  space  of  eight 
months  from  the  date  of  these  presents,  and  submit  to  their  majesties* 
government,  and  take  the  above-mentioned  oath. 

V.  That  all  and  singular  the  said  personj  comprised  in  the  second 
and  third  articles,  shall  have  a  general  pardon  of  all  attainders,  out- 
lawries, treasons,  misprisions  of  treason,  premunires,  felonies,  trespasses, 
and  other  crimes  and  misdemeanors  whatsoever,  by  them,  or  any  of 
them,  committed  since  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Kin^  James  II. ; 
and  if  any  of  them  are  attainted  by  Parliament,  the  lords  justices  and 
general  will  use  their  best  endeavors  to  get  the  same  repealed  by  Par- 
liament, and  the  outlawries  to  be  reversed  gratis,  all  but  writing-clerk's 
fees. 

VI.  And  whereas  these  present  wars  have  drawn  on  ^eat  violences 
on  both  parts ;  and  that  if  leave  were  given  to  the  bringing  all  sorts  of 
private  actions,  the  animosities  would  probably  continue  that  have  been 
too  long  on  foot,  and  the  public  disturbances  last :  for  the  quieting  and 
settling  therefore  of  this  kingdom,  and  avoiding  those  inconveniences 
which  would  be  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  contrary,  no  person 
or  persons  whatsoever,  comprised  in  the  foregtlng  articles,  shall  be 
sued,  molested,  or  impleaded  at  the  suit  of  any  party  or  parties  what- 
soever, for  any  trespasses  by  them  committed,  or  for  any  arms,  horses, 
money,  goods,  chattels,  merchandises,  or  provisions  w^hatsoever,  by  them 
seized  or  taken  during  the  time  of  the  war.  And  no  person  or  persons 
whatsoever,  in  the  second  or  third  articles  comprised,  shall  be  sued,  im- 
pleaded, or  made  accountable  for  the  rents  or  mean  rates  of  any  lands, 
tenements,  or  houses,  by  him  or  them  received,  or  enjoyed  in  this  king- 
dom, since  the  beginning  of  the  present  war  to  the  day  of  the  date 
hereof,  nor  for  any  waste  or  trespass  by  him  or  them  committed  in  any 
such  lands,  tenements,  or  houses ;  and  it  is  also  agreed,  that  this  article 
shall  be  mutual  and  reciprocal  on  both  sides. 

*  I,  A.  B.,  do  sincerely  promise  and  swear,  that  I  will  be  faithful,  and  bear 
trae  allegiaace  to  their  majesties  King  William  and  Queen  Mary.  So  help 
me  God. 


1 .  If 


1  ■ 


346 


APPENDIX. 


VII.  Every  nobleman  and  gentleman  comprised  in  the  said  second 
and  third  article?,  shall  have  liberty  to  ride  with  a  sword  and  case  of 
pistols,  if  they  think  lit ;  and  keep  a  gun  in  their  houses,  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  same,  or  for  fowling. 

VIII.  The  inhabitants  and  residents  in  the  city  of  Limericlr,  and 
Other  s^arrisons,  shall  be  permitted  to  remove  their  goods,  chattels,  and 
provisions  out  of  the  same,  without  being  viewed  and  searched,  or  pay- 
ing any  manner  of  duties,  and  shall  not  be  compelled  to  leave  the 
houses  or  lodgings  they  now  have,  for  the  space  of  six  weeks  next  en- 
suing the  date  hereof. 

IX.  The  oath  to  be  administered  to  such  Roman  Catholics  as  sub- 
mit to  their  majesties'  government  shall  be  the  oath  abovesaid,  and  no 
other. 

X.  No  person  or  persons  who  shall  at  any  time  hereafter  break  these 
articles,  or  any  of  them,  shall  thereby  make,  or  cause  any  otlier  person 
or  persons  to  lorfeit  or  lose  the  benefit  of  the  same. 

Al.  The  lords  justices  and  general  do  promise  to  use  their  utmost 
endeavors,  that  all  the  persons  comprehended  in  the  above-mentioned 
articles,  shall  be  protected  and  defended  from  all  arrests  and  execu- 
tions for^  debt  or  damage,  f'^r  the  space  of  eight  months  next  ensuing 
the  date  hereof. 

XII.  Lastly,  the  lords  justices  and  general  do  undertake  that 
their  majesties  will  ratify  these  articles  within  the  space  of  eight 
months,  or  sooner,  and  use  their  utmost  endeavors  that  the  same  shall 
be  ratified  and  confirmed  in  Parliament. 

XIII.  And  whereas  Colonel  John  Brown  stood  indebted  to  several 
Protestants,  by  judgments  of  record,  which  appearing  to  the  late  gov- 
ernment, the  Lord  Tyrconnel  and  Lord  Lucan  look  away  the  effects 
the  said  John  Brown  had  to  answer  the  said  debts,  and  promised  to 
clear  the  said  John  Brown  of  the  said  debts ;  which  effects  were  taken 
for  the  public  use  of  the  Irish,  and  their  army :  for  freeing  the  said 
Lord  Lucan  of  his  said  engagement,  past  on  their  public  account,  for 

yayment  of  the  said  Protestants,  and  for  preventing  the  ruin  of  the  said 
ohn  Brown,  and  for  satisfaction  qf  his  creditors,  at  the  instance  of 
the  Lord  Lucan,  and  the  rest  of  the  persons  aforesaid,  it  is  agreed,  that 
the  said  lords  justices  and  the  said  Baron  De  Ginckle  shall  inter- 
cede with  the  king  and  Parliament  to  have  the  estates  secured  to  Ro- 
man Catholics,  by  articles  and  capitulation  in  this  kingdom,  charged 
with,  and  equally  liable  to  the  payment  of  so  much  of  the  said  debts 
as  the  said  Lord  Lucan,  upon  stating  accounts  with  the  s&id  John 
Brown,  shall  certify  under  his  hand  that  the  effects  taken  from  the  said 
Brown  amount  unto ;  which  account  is  to  be  stated,  and  the  balance 
certified  by  the  said  Lord  Lucan  in  one  and  twenty  days  after  the  dpti; 
hereof. 

For  the  true  ^performance  hereof,  we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands: 

Present,  Scravenmore,       Char.  Porter, 

H.  Maccat,  Thos.  Conimosbt, 

T.  Talmash,  Bar.  De  Giitckle. 


the  said  second 
ord  and  case  of 
1868,  for  the  de- 

f  Limerick,  and 
Is,  chattels,  and 
earched,  or  pay- 
ed to  leave  the 
:  weeks  next  on- 

)atholics  as  sub- 
)ovesaid,  and  no 

iflor  break  these 
any  otlier  person 

use  their  utmost 
ibove-mentioned 
rests  and  execu- 
:hs  next  ensuing 

undertake    that 

space  of  eig^ht 

it  the  same  shall 

lebted  to  several 
to  the  late  gov- 
away  the  effects 
and  promised  to 
Sects  were  taken 
freeing  the  said 
iblic  account,  for 
le  ruin  of  the  said 
t  the  instance  of 
it  is  agreed,  that 
ickle  shall  inter- 
3  secured  to  Ro- 
:ingdom,  charged 
if  the  said  debts 
h  the  said  John 
ken  from  the  said 
,  and  the  balance 
Biys  after  the  dKn 

set  our  hands : 

Porter, 
coninosbt, 

B  GlITCKIiE. 


APPENDIX. 


347 


And  whereas  the  said  city  of  Lamerick  hath  been  since,  in  pursntnce 
of  the  said  articles,  surrendered  unto  us.  Now  know  ve,  that  we,  hav- 
ing considered  of  the  said  articles,  are  graciously  pleased  hereby  to 
declare,  that  we  do  for  u«,  our  heirty  and  aueeu8or»^  as/br  a$  in  u$  itef,, 
rai\fy  and  coi\firm  the  Bame^  and  every  clause^  matter^  and  thing  therein 
contained.  And  as  to  such  parts  thereof,  for  which  an  act  of  Parliament 
shall  be  found  to  be  necessary,  we  shall  recommend  the  same  to  be 
made  good  by  Parliament,  and  shall  give  our  royal  assent  to  anv  bill  or 
bills  that  shall  be  passed  by  our  two  houses  of  Parliament  to  that  pur- 
pose. And  whereas  it  appears  unto  us,  that  it  was  agreed  between  the 
parties  to  the  said  articles,  that  after  the  words  Limerick,  Clare,  Kerry, 
Cork,  Mayo,  or  any  of  them,  in  the  second  of  the  said  articles,  the 
words  foUowinfj,  viz.,  "  And  all  such  as  are  under  their  protection  in 
the  said  counties,''  should  be  inserted,  and  be  part  of  the  said  articles. 
Which  words  having  been  casually  omitted  by  the  writer,  the  omission 
was  not  discovered  till  after  the  said  articles  were  signed,  but  was  taken 
notice  of  Before  the  second  town  was  surrendered :  and  that  our  said 
justices  and  general,  or  one  of  i  hem,  did  promisu  that  the  said  clause 
should  be  made  good,  it  being  within  the  in(  jntion  of  the  capitulation, 
and  inserted  in  the  foul  draft  thereof.  Our  farther  will  and  pleasure  is, 
and  we  do  hereby  ratify  and  confirm  the  said  omitted  word«),  viz.,  "  And 
all  such  as  are  under  their  protection  in  1....'  said  c  inties/'  hereby  for 
us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  ordaining  and  declari^  that  all  and  every 
person  and  persons  therein  concerned,  shall  and  tut  y  have,  receive,  and 
enjoy  the  benefit  thereof,  in  such  and  tb'^  same  manner,  br  if  the  said 
words  had  been  inserted  in  their  proper  ]\m<\  in  the  said  si  .'.nd  article ; 
any  omission,  defect,  or  mistake  in  the  i  lid  c-ocond  article,  in  any  wise 
notwithstanding.  Provided  always,  and  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  ^hpl. 
these  our  letters  patents  shall  be  enrolled  in  our  court  of  chancery,  m 
our  said  kingdom  of  Ireland,  within  the  space  of  one  year  next  ensuing. 
In  witness,  &c.,  witness  ourself  at  Westminster,  the  twenty-fourth  day 
of  February,  anno  regni  regis  et  regina;  Gulielmi  et  Maria  quarto 
per  breve  de  private  sigillo.  Nos  autem  tenorem  premissor.  predict. 
Ad  requisitionem  attornat.  general,  domini  regis  et  domine  regine 
pro  regno  Hibernie.  Duximus  exemplificand.  per  presentes.  In  cujus 
rei  testimonium  has  literas  nostras  fieri  fecimus  patentes.  Testibus 
nobis  ipsis  apud  Westmon.  quinto  die  Aprilis,  annoq.  regni  eorum  quarto. 

BRIDGES. 

Examinat.  J  S.  l^f  ck,  ?  In  Cancel, 

per  nos  (  Lacon  Wm.  Childe.  S  Magistros. 


i:,  .■ 


•  t 


\  \ 


348 


APPENDIX. 


u 


." 


MILITARY  ARTICLES 

Agreed  upon  between  the  Baron  At  Ginckle,  Lieutenant  General  and 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  English  Army,  on  the  one  side ; 

And  the  Lieutenant  Generals  De  Ussoon  and  De  Tesse,  Commanders- 
in-Chief  of  the  Irish  Army,  on  the  other ;  and  the  General  Officers 
hereunto  subscribing. 

I.  That  all  persons,  without  any  exceptions,  of  what  quality  or 
condition  soever,  that  are  willing  to  leave  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  shall 
have  free  liberty  to  go  to  any  country  beyond  the  seas,  (England  and 
Scotland  excepted,)  where  they  think  tit,  with  their  families,  household 
stuff,  plate,  and  jewels. 

II.  That  all  general  officers,  colonels,  and  generally  all  other  officers 
of  horse,  dragoons,  and  footgnards,  troopers,  dragooners,  soldiers  of 
all  kinds  that  are  in  an^r  garrison,  place,  or  post,  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  Irish,  or  encamped  in  the  counties  of  Cork,  Clare,  and  Kerry,  as 
also  those  called  Rapparees,  or  volunteers,  that  are  willing  to  go  beyond 
seas  as  aforesaid,  shall  have  free  leave  to  embark  themselves  wherever 
the  ships  are  that  are  appointed  to  transport  them,  and  to  come  in  whole 
bodies  as  they  are  now  composed,  or  in  parties,  companies,  or  otherwise, 
without  having  any  impediment,  directly  or  indirectly. 

III.  That  all  persons  above  mentioned,  that  are  willing  to  leave 
Ireland  and  go  to  France,  shall  have  leave  to  declare  it  at  the  times  and 
places  hereafter  mentioned,  viz.,  the  troops  in  Limerick,  on  Tuesday 
next  in  Limerick,  the  horse  at  their  camp  on  Wednesday,  and  the 
other  forces  that  are  dispersed  in  the  counties  of  Clare,  Kerry,  and 
Cork,  on  the  8th  instan^and  on  none  other,  before  Monsieur  Tameron, 
the  French  intendant,  and  Colonel  Withers ;  and  after  such  declaration 
is  made,  the  troops  that  will  go  into  France  must  remain  under  the 
command  and  discipline  of  their  officers  that  are  to  conduct  them 
thither ;  and  deserters  of  each  side  shall  be  given  up,  and  punished  ac- 
cordingly. 

IV.  That  all  English  and  Scotch  officers  that  eerfc  now  in  Ireland 
shall  be  included  in  this  capitulation,  as  well  for  the  security  of  their 
estates  and  goods  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  (if  they  are  willing 
to  remain  here,)  as  for  passing  freely  into  France,  or  any  other  country 
to  seive. 

V.  That  all  the  general  French  officers,  the  intendant,  the  engineers, 
the  conmissaries  at  war,  and  of  the  artillery,  the  treasurer,  and  other 
French  officers,  strangers,  and  all  others  whatsoever,  that  are  in  Sligo, 
Ross,  Clare,  or  in  the  army,  or  that  do  trade  or  commerce,  or  are  other- 
wise employed  in  any  kind  of  station  or  condition,  shall  have  free 
leave  to  pass  into  France,  or  any  other  country,  and  shall  have  leave 
to  ship  themselves,  with  all  their  horses,  equipage,  plate,  papers,  and  all 
their  effects  whatever ;  and  that  General  Ginckle  will  order  passports 
for  them,  convoys,  and  carriages,  by  land  and  water,  to  carry  them  safe 
from  Limerick  to  the  ships  where  they  shall  be  embarked,  without  pay- 


APPENDIX. 


349 


nt  General  and 
i  side ; 

Commanders- 
eneral  Officers 

hat  quality  or 
f  Ireland,  shall 
,  (England  and 
lies,  household 

11  other  officers 
rs,  soldiers  of 
1  the  hands  of 
and  Kerry,  as 
g  to  go  beyond 
elves  wherever 
come  in  whole 
3,  or  otherwise, 

illing  to  leave 
t  the  times  and 
k,  on  Tuesday 
isday,  and  the 
re,  Kerry,  and 
dear  Tameron, 
ich  declaration 
lain  under  the 
conduct  them 
id  punished  ac- 

aow  in  Ireland 

icurity  of  their 

hey  are  willing 

other  country 

the  engineers, 
irer,  and  other 
It  are  in  Sligo, 
!,  or  are  other- 
hall  have  free 
lall  have  leave 
papers,  and  all 
)rder  passports 
arry  them  safe 
I,  without  pay- 


ing any  thing  for  the  said  carriages,  or  to  those  that  are  employed 
therein,  with  their  horses,  cars,  boats,  and  shallops. 

VI.  That  if  any  of  the  aforesaid  equipages,  merchandise,  horses, 
money,  plate,  or  ouier  movables,  or  household  stuff  belonging  to  the 
said  Irish  troops,  or  to  the  French  officers,  or  other  particular  persons 
whatsoever,  be  robbed,  destroyed,  or  taken  away  by  the  troops  of  the 
said  general,  the  said  general  will  order  it  to  be  restored,  or  payment 
to  be  made  according  to  the  value  that  is  given  in  upon  oath  by  the  per- 
son so  robbed  or  plundered :  and  the  said  Irish  troops  to  be  transported 
as  aforesaid';  and  all  other  persons  belonging  to  them  are  to  observe 
good  order  in  their  march  ana  quarters,  and  shall  restore  whatever  they 
shall  take  from  tiie  country,  or  make  restitution  for  the  same. 

VII.  That  to  facilitate  the  transporting  the  said  troops,  the  general 
will  furnish  fifty  ships,  each  ship's  burden  two  hundred  tons,  for  which 
the  persons  to  be  transported  shall  not  be  obliged  to  pay ;  and  twenty 
more,  if  there  shall  be  occasion,  without  their  paying  for  them :  and  if 
any  of  the  said  ships  shall  be  of  lesser  burden,  he  will  furnish  more  in 
number  to  countervail ;  and  also  give  two  men-of-war  to  embark  the 
principal  officers,  and  serve  for  a  convoy  to  the  vessels  of  burden. 

VIII.  That  a  commissary  shall  be  immediately  sent  to,  Cork  to  visit 
the  transport  ships,  and  what  condition  they  are  in  for  sailing ;  and  that, 
as  soon  as  they  are  ready,  the  troops  to  be  transported  shall  march 
with  all  convenient  speed,  the  nearest  way,  in  order  to  embark  there ; 
and  if  there  shall  be  any  more  men  to  be  transported  than  can  be  car- 
ried off  in  the  said  fifty  ships,  the  rest  shall  quit  the  English  town  of 
Limerick,  and  march  to  such  quarters  as  shall  be  appointed  for  them, 
convenient  for  their  transportation,  where  they  shall  remain  till  the  other 
twenty  ships  be  ready,  which  are  to  be  in  a  month ;  and  may  embark 
on  any  French  ship  that  may  come  in  the  mean  time. 

IX.  That  the  said  ships  shall  be  furnished  with  forage  for  horse,  and 
all  necessary  provisions  to  subsiat  the  officers,  troops,  dragoons,  and 
soldiers,  and  all  other  persons  that  are  shipped  to  be  transported  into 
France ;  which  provisions  shall  be  paid  for  as  soon  as  all  are  disem- 
barked at  Brest  or  Nantz,  upon  the  coast  of  Brittany,  or  any  other  port 
of  France  they  can  make. 

X.  And  to  secure  the  return  of  the  said  ships  (the  danger  of  the^ 
seas  excepted)  and  payment  for  the  said  provisions,  sufficient  hostages 
shall  heaven. 

XI.  That  the  garrisons  of  Clare  Castle,  Ross,  and  all  other  foot 
that  are  in  garrisons  in  the  counties  of  Clare,  Cork,  and  Kerry,  shall 
have  the  advantage  of  this  present  capitulation ;  and  such  part  of  those 
garrisons  as  design  to  go  beyond  seas  shall  march  out  with  their  arms, 
baggage,  drums  beating,  ball  in  mouth,  match  lighted  at  both  ends,  and 
colors  flying,  with  all  the  provisions  and  half  the  ammunition  that  is 
in  the  said  garrisons,  and  join  the, horse  that  march  to  be  transported ; 
or  if  then  there  is  not  shipping  enough  for  the  body  of  foot  that  is  to  be 
next  transported  after  the  horse,  General  Ginckle  will  order  that  they 
be  furnished  with  carriages  for  that  purpose,  and  what  provisions  they 
shall  want  in  their  march,  they  paying  for  the  said  provisions,  or  else 
that  they  may  take  it  out  of  their  own  magazines. 

30 


;pfi 


m 


mrm 


1(1'    i 


to 


',1    • 


350 


APPENDIX. 


XII.  That  all  the  troops  of  horse  and  dragoons  that  are  in  the 
counties  of  Cork,  Kerry,  and  Clare,  shall  also  have  the  benefit  of  this 
capitulation ;  and  that  such  as  will  pass  into  France  shall  have  quarters 
given  them  in  the  counties  of  Clare  and  Kerry,  apart  from  the  troops 
Uiat  are  commanded  by  General  Ginckle,  until  they  can  be  shipped ; 
and  within  their  quarters  they  shall  pay  for  evejy  thing,  except  forage 
and  pasture  for  their  horses,  which  shall  be  furnished  gratis. 

XIII.  Those  of  the  garrison  of  Sligo  that  are  joined  to  the  Irish 
army  shall  have  the  benefit  of  this  capitulation ;  and  orders  shall  be 
sent  to  them  that  are  to  convey  them  up,  to  bring  them  hither  to  Lim- 
erick the  shortest  way. 

XIV.  The  Irish  may  have  liberty  to  transport  nine  hundred  horse, 
including  horses  for  the  officers,  which  shall  be  transported  gratis ;  and 
as  for  the  troopers  that  stay  behind,  they  shall  dispose  of  themselves  as 
they  shall  think  fit,  giving  up  their  horses  and  arms  to  such  persons  as 
the  general  shall  appoint. 

XV.  It  shall  be  permitted  to  those  that  are  appointed  to  take  care 
for  the  subsistence  of  the  horse,  that  are  willing  to  go  into  France,  to 
buy  hay  and  corn  at  the  king's  rates  wherever  they  can  find  it,  in  the 
quarters  that  are  assigned  for  them,  without  any  let  or  molestation,  and 
to  carry  all  necessary  provisions  out  of  the  city  of  Limerick ;  and  for 
this  purpose,  the  general  will  furnish  convenient  carriages  for  them  to 
the  places  where  they  shall  be  embarked. 

XVI.  It  shall  be  lawful  to  make  use  of  the  hay  preserved  in  the 
stores  of  the  county  of  Kerry  for  the  horses  that  shall  be  embarked ; 
and  if  there  be  not  enough,  it  shall  be  lawful  to  buy  hay  and  oats 
wherever  it  shall  be  found,  at  the  king's  rates. 

XVII.  That  all  prisoners  of  war,  that  were  in  Ireland  the  28th  of 
September,  shall  be  set  at  liberty  on  both  sides ;  and  the  general  prom- 
ises to  use  his  endeavors,  that  those  that  are  in  England  and  Flanders 
shall  be  set  at  liberty  also. 

XVIII.  The  general  will  cause  provisions  and  medicines  to  be 
furnished  to  the  sick  and  wounded  officers,  troopers,  dragoons,  and  sol- 
diers of  the  Irish  army,  that  cannot  pass  into  France  at  the  first  embark- 
ment ;  and  after  they  are  cured,  will  order  them  ships  to  pass  into 
France,  if  they  are  willing  to  go. 

XIX.  That  at  the  signing  hereof,  the  general  will  send  a  ship  ex- 
press to  France ;  and  that,  besides,  he  will  furnish  two  small  ships  of 
those  that  are  now  in  the  River  of  Limerick,  to  transport  two  persons 
into  France  that  are  to  be  sent  to  give  notice  of  this  treaty ;  and  that 
the  commanders  of  the  said  ships  shall  have  orders  to  put  ashore  at  the 
next  port  of  France  where  they  shall  make. 

XX.  That  all  those  of  the  said  troops,  officers,  and  others,  of  what 
character  soever,  that  would  pass  into  France,  shall  not  be  stopped  upon 
the  account  of  debt  or  any  other  pretext 

XXI.  If,  aftei"  signing  this  present  treaty,  and  before  the  arrival  of 
the  fleet,  a  Frenc)  packet  boat,  or  other  transport  ship,  shall  arrive  from 
France  in  any  other  part  of  Ireland,  the  general  will  order  a  passport 
not  only  for  such  as  must  go  on  board  the  said  ships,  but  to  the  ships  to 


APPENDIX. 


351 


that  are  in  the 
}  benefit  of  this 
all  have  quarters 
from  the  troops 
;an  be  shipped; 
,  except  forage 
p-atis. 

led  to  the  Irish 
prders  shall  be 
hither  to  Lim- 

hundred  horse, 
rted  gratis ;  and 
)f  themselves  as 
such  persons  as 

ted  to  take  care 
into  France,  to 
m  find  it,  in  the 
molestation,  aiid 
merick  j  and  for 
iges  for  them  to 


)reserved  in  the 

be  embarked ; 

ly  hay  and  oats 


ind  the  28th  of 
e  general  prom- 
id  and  Flanders 

nedicines  to  be 
igoons,  and  sol- 
he  first  embark- 
ps  to  pass  into 

send  a  ship  ex- 
I  small  ships  of 
»ort  two  persons 
reaty ;  and  that 
ut  ashore  at  the 

others,  of  what 
)e  stopped  upon 

e  the  arrival  of 
hall  arrive  from 
>rder  a  passport 
it  to  the  ships  to 


come  to  the  nearest  port  to  the  place  where  the  troops  to  be  transported 
shall  be  quartered. 

XXII.  That  after  the  arrival  of  the  said  fleet  there  shall  be  free 
communication  and  passage  between  it  and  the  quarters  of  the  above- 
said  troops ;  and  especially  for  all  those  that  have  passes  from  the 
chief  commanders  of  the  said  fleet,  or  from  Mons.  Tameron,  the  in- 
tendant. 

XXIII.  In  consideration  of  the  present  capitulation,  the  two  towns 
of  Limerick  shall  be  delivered  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  general, 
or  any  other  person  he  shall  appoint,  at  the  time  and  days  hereafter 
specified,  viz.,  the  Irish  town,  except  the  magazines  and  hospital,  on  the 
day  of  the  signing  of  these  present  articles ;  and  as  for  the  English 
town,  it  shall  remain,  together  with  the  island,  and  the  free  passsge  of 
Thomond  Bridge,  in  the  hands  of  those  of  the  Irish  army  that  are  now 
in  the  garrison,  or  that  shall  hereafter  come  from  the  counties  of  Cork, 
Clare,  Kerry,  Sligo,  and  other  places  above  mentioned,  until  there  shall 
be  convenience  found  for  their  transportation. 

XXIV.  And  to  prevent  all  disorders  that  may  happen  between  the 
garrison  that  the  general  shall  place  in  the  Irish  town,  which  shall  be 
delivered  to  him,  and  the  Irish  troopers  that  shall  remain  in  the  English 
town  and  the  island,  which  they  may  do,  until  the  troops  to  be  em- 
barked on  the  first  fifty  ships  shall  be  gone  for  France,  and  no  longer, 
they  shall  entrench  uiemselves  on  both  sides,  to  hinder  the  communi- 
cation of  the  said  garrisons  ;  and  it  shall  be  prohibited  on  both  sides 
to  offer  any  thing  that  is  oflensive ;  and  the  parties  ofiending  shall  be 
punished  on  either  side. 

XXV.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  garrison  to  march  out  all 
at  once,  or  at  different  times,  as  they  can  be  embarked,  ivith  arms,  bag- 
gage, drums  beating,  match  lighted  at  both  ends,  bvilet  in  mouth,  colors 
nytng,  six  brass  guns,  such  as  the  beseiged  will  choose,  two  mortar  pieces, 
and  half  the  ammunition  that  is  now  in  the  magazines  of  the  said  place ; 
and  for  this  purpose  an  inventory  of  all  the  ammunition  in  the  garrison 
shall  be  made  in  the  presence  of  any  person  that  the  general  shall  ap- 
point, the  next  day  after  these  present  articles  shall  be  signed. 

XXVI.  All  the  magazines  of  provisions  shall  remain  in  the  hands 
of  those  that  are  now  employed  to  take  care  of  the  same,  for  the  sub- 
sistence of  those  of  the  Irish  army  thdt  will  pass  into  France ;  and  if 
there  shall  not  be  sufficient  in  the  stores  for  the  support  of  the  said 
troops  whilst  they  stay  in  this  kingdom  and  are  crossing  the  seas,  that, 
upon  giving  up  an  account  of  their  numbers,  the  general  will  furnish 
them  with  sufficient  provisions  at  the  king's  rates  ;  and  that  there  shall 
be  a  free  market  at  Limerick,  and  other  quarters,  where  the  said  troops 
shall  be ;  and  in  case  any  provision  shall  remain  in  the  magazines  of 
Limerick  when  the  town  shall  be  given  up,  it  shall  be  valued,  and  the 
price  deducted  out  of  what  is  to  be  paid  for  the  provisions  to  be  fur- 
nished to  the  troops  on  shipboard. 

XXVII.  That  there  shall  be  a  cessation  of  arms  at  land,  as  also 
at  sea,  with  respect  to  the  ships,  whether  English,  Dutch,  or  French, 
designed  for  the  transportation  of  the  said  troops,  until  they  shall  be 
returned  to  their  respective  harbord,  and  dut,  on  both  sides,  they  shall 


352 


APPENDIX. 


bis'fumished  with  sufficient  passports  both  for  ships  and  men ;  and  iif 
any  sea  commander,  or  captain  of  a  ship,  or  any  Officer,  trooper,  dra- 
goon, soldier,  or  dny  other  person^  shall  act  contrary  to  this  cessation, 
ue  persons  so  acting  shall  be  punished  on  either  side,  and  satisfaction 
shall  be  made  for  the  wrong  that  is  done ;  and  officers  shall  be  sent  to 
the  mouth  of  the  River  of  Limerick  to  give  notice  to  the  commanders 
of  the  English  and  French  fleets  of  the  present  conjuncture,  that  they 
may  observe  the  cessation  of  arms  accordingly. 

XXVIII.  That  for  the  security  of  the  execution  of  this  present  ca- 
pitulation, and  of  each  article  therein  contained,  the  beseiged  shall  give 
the  following  hostages ,  and  the  general  shall  give . 

XXIX.  If  before  this  capitulation  is  fully  executed  there  happens 
any  change  in  the  government,  or  command  of  the  army,  which  is  now 
commanded  by  General  Ginckle,  all  those  that  shall  be  appointed  to 
command  the  same  shall  be  obliged  to  observe  and  execute  what  is 
specified  in  these  articles,  or  cause  it  to  be  executed  punctually,  and 
shall  not  act  contrary  on  any  account. 

BARON  DE  GINCKLE. 
October  19. 


APPENDIX. 


353 


NO.  II. 


THE  IRISH  LORDS'  PROTEST  AGAINST  THE  ACT 

"  TO  CONFIBM  THE  ARTICLES  OP  IJMERICK,"  A.  D.  1702. 

I 

Resolved  on  the  question,  that  the  engprossed  bill  sent  up  by  the 
Commons,  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  Confirmation  of  Articles  made  at 
the  Surrender  of  the  City. of  Limerick,"  do  pass  into  a  law. 

Orckred,  on  motion,  that  sqch  lords  as  please  may  enter  their  protest 
to  the  last  foregoing  vote,  with  their  reasons. 

We,  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  whose  names  are  hereafter 
subscribed,  do  dissent  from  the  aforesaid  vote,  and  enter  our  protest 
against  the  same,  for  the  reasons  following :  — 

1.  Because  we  think  the  title  of  the  bill  doth  not  af^ree  with  the 
body  thereof,  the  title  being,  "  An  Act  for  the  Confirmation  of  articles 
made  at  the  Surrender  of  the  City  of  Limerick;"  whereas  no  one  of 
the  said  articles  is  therein,  as  we  conceive,  fully  confirmed. 

2.  Because  the  said  articles  were  to  be  confirmed  in  favor  of  them 
to  whom  they  were  granted.  But  the  confirmation  of  them  by  the  bill 
is  such,  that  it  puts  them  in  a  worse  condition  than  they  were  before,  as 
we  conceive. 

3.  Because  the  bill  omits  these  material  words  —  "  and  all  such  as 
are  under  their  protection  in  said  counties,"  which  are  by  his  majesty's 
letters  patent  declared  to  be  part  of  the  2d  article,  and  several  persons 
have  been  adjudged  within  the  2d  article  by  virtue  of  the  aforemen- 
tioned words ;  so  that  the  words  omitted,  being  so  very  material,  and 
confirmed  by  his  majesty  after  a  solemn  debate,  as  we  are  informed; 
some  express  reasons,  as  we  conceive,  ought  to  have  been  assigned  in 
the  bill,  in  order  to  satisfy  the  world  as  to  that  omission. 

4.  Because  several  words  are  inserted  in  the  bill  which  are  not  in 
the  articles ;  and  others  omitted,  which  alter  both  the  sense  and  mean- 
ing of  some  parts  of  the  ar+icles,  as  we  conceive. 

5.  Because  we  apprehend  that  many  Protestants  may  and  will  suffer 
by  this  bill,  in  their  just  rights  and  pretensions,  by  reason  of  their  hav- 
ing purchased  and  lent  money  upon  the  credit  of  the  said  articles, 
and,  as  we  conceive,  in  several  other  respects. 


Londonderry, 
Thomas  Limerick, 
S.  Elphin, 
Howth, 
W.  KUlala, 

30* 


John  Ossory, 

Duncannon, 

Kerry, 

Will.  Clonfert, 

Strabane, 


Tyrone, 

Thomas  Killaloe, 
Will.  Deny, 
Kingston. 


354 


APPENDIX. 


1 1 


NO.  III. 


hu 


PETITION  AND  LIST   OF  DELEGATES  OF 
THE   CATHOLICS   OF  IRELAND. 

January  2,  1793 
Mr.  Byrne,  Mr.  Keogh,  Mr.  Devereux,  Mr.  Bellew,  and*  Sir  Thomas 
French,  the  gentlemen  delegated  by  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  attended 
the  levee  at  St.  James's,  ana  had  the  honor  to  present  the  humble  peti- 
tion of  that  body  to  his  majesty,  who  was  pleased  to  receive  it  most 
graciously.  ' 

The  delegates  were  introduced  by  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  Dundas, 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department 
The  following  is  a  correct  copy  or  tlie  petition: — 

7\>  the  Kxng^a  most  excdlent  Majesty:  — 

The  humble  petition  of  the  undersigned  Catholics,  on  behalf  of 
themselves  and  the  rest  of  his  Catholic  subjects  of  the  kingdom  of 
Ireland. 

Most  Grack)Us  Sovereign:  We,  your  majesty's  most  dutiful  and 
loyal  subjects  of  your  kingdom  of  Ireland,  professing  the  Catholic  re- 
liffion,  presume  to  approach  your  majesty,  who  are  the  common  father 
of  all  vour  people,  and  humbly  to  submit  to  your  consideration  the 
manifold  incapacities  and  oppressive  disqualmcations  under  which 
we  labor. 

For,  may  it  please  your  majesty,  after  a  century  of  uninterrupted 
loyalty,  in  which  time  five  foreign  wars  and  two  domestic  rebellions 
have  occurred ;  after  having  taken  every  oath  of  allegiance  and  fidelity 
to  your  majesty,  and  given,  and  being  still  ready  to  give,  every  pledge 
which  can  be  devised  for  their  peaceable  demeanor  and  unconditional 
submission  to  the  laws,  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  stand  obnoxious  to  a 
long  catalogue  of  statutes,  inflicting  on  dutiful  and  meritorious  subjects 
pains  and  penalties  of  an  extent  and  severity  which  scarce  any  degree 
of  delinquency  can  warrant,  and  prolonged  to  a  period  when  no  neces- 
sity can  be  alleged  to  justify  their  continuance. 

in  the  first  place,  we  beg  leave,  with  all  humility,  to  represent  to 
your  majesty,  that,  notwithstanding  the  lowest  deptutments  in  your 
majesty's  fleets  and  armies  are  largely  supplied  by  our  numbers,  and 
your  revenue  in  this  country  to  a  great  degree  supported  by  our  contri- 
butions, we  are  disabled  from  serving  your  majesty  in  any  office  of 
trust  and  emolument  whatsoever,  civil  or  military ;  a  proscription  which 
disregards  capacity  or  merit ;  admits  of  neither  qualification  nor  degree, 
and  rests  as  a  universal  stigma  of  distrust  upon  the  whole  body  of 
your  Catholic  subjects. 

We  are  interdicted  from  all  municipal  stations  aitd  the  franchise  of 
ill  guilds  and  corporations ;  and  our  exclusion  from  the  benefits  an 
nexed  to  those  situations  is  not  an  evil  terminating  in  itself;  for,  by 


ATES  OF 

uarjf  %  179S 
md  Sir  Thomas 
reland,  attended 
the  hutnblo  peti- 
receive  it  most 

Henry  Dundas, 


on  behalf  of 
the  kingdom  of 

most  dutiful  and 
the  Catholic  re- 
$  common  father 
onsideration  the 
ns  under  which 

of  uninterrupted 
nestic  rebellions 
ance  and  fidelity 
ve,  every  pledge 
id  unconditional 
1  obnoxious  to  a 
itorious  subjects 
arce  any  degree 
when  no  neces- 

,  to  represent  to 
rtments  in  your 
Jr  numbers,  and 
id  by  our  contri- 
in  any  office  of 
oscription  which 
ition  nor  degree, 
I  whole  body  of 

the  franchise  of 
the  benefits  an 
n  itself;  for,  by 


APPENDIX. 


800 


giving  an  advantage  over  us  to  thoae  in  whom  they  are  exclusively 
vested,  they  establish,  throughout  the  kingdom,  a  species  of  qualified 
monopoly,  uniformly  operating  in  our  disfavor,  contrary  to  the  spirit, 
and  highly  detrimental  to  the  freedom  of  trade. 

We  may  not  found  nor  endow  any  university,  college,  or  school,  for 
the  education  of  our  children,  and  we  are  interdicted  from  obtaining 
degrees  in  the  University  of  Dublin  by  the  several  charters  and  stat- 
utes now  in  force  therein. 

We  are  totally  prohibited  from  keeping  or  using  weapons  for  the 
defence  of  our  houses,  families,  or  persons,  whereby  we  are  exposed  to 
the  violence  of  burglary,  robbery,  and  assassination ;  and  to  enforce 
this  prohibition,  contravening  that  great  originrl  law  of  nature  which 
enjoins  us  to  self-defence,  a  variety  of  statutes  exist,  not  less  grievous 
and  oppressive  in  their  provisions  than  unjust  in  their  object :  by  one 
of  which,  enacted  so  lately  as  within  these  sixteen  years,  every  of  your 
majesty's  Catholic  suL^jcts,  of  whatever  rank  or  degree,  peer  or  peas- 
ant, is  compellable  by  aiw  magbtrate  to  come  forward  and  convict 
himself  of  what  may  bo  thought  a  singular  offence  in  a  country  pro- 
fessing to  be  free  —  keeping  arms  for  Jiis  defence ;  or,  if  he  shall  re- 
fuse so  to  do,  may  incur  not  only  fine  and  imprisonment,  but  the  vile 
and  ignominious  punishment  of  the  pillory  and  whipping  —  penalties 
appropriated  to  the  most  infamous  malefactors,  and  more  terrible  to  a 
liberal  mind  than  death  itself. 

No  Catholic  whatsoever,  as  we  apprehend,  has  his  personal  property 
secure.  The  law  allows  and  encourages  the  disobedient  and  unnatural 
child  to  conform  and  deprive  him  of  it :  the  unhappy  father  does  not, 
even  by  the  surrender  of  his  all,  purchase  his  repose;  he  may  be 
attacked  by  new  bills,  if  hid  future  industry  be  successful,  and  again 
be  plundered  by  due  process  of  law. 

We  are  excluded,  or  may  be  excluded,  from  all  petit  juries  in  civil 
actions,  where  one  of  the  parties  is  a  Protestant ;  and  we  are  further 
excluded  from  all  petit  juries  in  trials  by  information  or  indictment, 
founded  on  any  of  the  Popery  laws,  by  which  law  we  most  humbly 
submit  to  your  majesty,  that  your  loyal  subjects,  the  Catholics  of  Ire- 
land, are  in  this,  Uieir  native  land,  in  a  worse  condition  than  that  of 
aliens,  for  they  may  domand  an  equitable  privilege  denied  to  us,  of 
having  half  their  jury  aliens  like  themselves. 

We  may  not  serve  on  grand  juries,  unless,  which  it  is  scarcely  possi- 
ble can  ever  happen,  there  should  not  be  found  a  sufficiency  of  Protes- 
tants to  complete  the  panel ;  contrary  to  that  humane  and  equitable 
principle  of  the  law,  which  says  that  no  man  shall  be  convicted  of  any 
capital  offence,  unless  by  the  concurring  verdicts  of  two  juries  of  his 
neighbors  and  equals ;  whereby,  and  to  this  we  humbly  presume  more 
particularly  to  implore  your  royal  attention,  we  are  deprived  of  the 
great  palladium  of  the  constitution,  trial  by  our  peers,  independent  of 
tiie  manifest  injustice  of  our  property  being  taxed  in  assessments  by 
a  body  from  which  we  are  formally  excluded. 

We  avoid  a  further  enumeration  of  inferior  grievances ;  but,  may  it 
please  your  majesty,  there  remains  one  incapacity  which  your  loyal 
subjects  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  feel  with  most  poignant  anguisa  of 
mind,  as  being  the  badge  of  unmerited  disgrace  and  ignominy,  and  the 


356 


APPENDIX. 


Ja 


f y  k " 


%"  I' 


cause  and  bitter  aggravation  of  all  our  other  calamities :  we  are  de 
prived  of  the  elective  franchise,  to  the  manifest  perversion  of  the  spirit 
of  Uie  constitution,  inasmuch  as  vour  faithful  Bub)ect8  are  thereby  taxed 
where  they  are  not  represented,  actually  or  virtually,  and  bound  by 
laws,  in  tlio  framing  or  which  tliev  have  no  power  to  give  or  withhold 
tlieir  assent;  and  we  most  humbly  implore  your  majesty  to  believe, 
that  tliis,  our  prime  and  heavy  grievance,  is  not  an  evil  merely  specu- 
lative, but  is  attended  with  great  distress  to  all  ranks,  nnd,  in  many 
instances,  with  tlie  total  ruin  and  destruction  of  the  lower  orders  of 
your  majesty's  faitliful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  Catholics  of  Ireland ;  for, 
may  it  please  your  majesty,  not  to  mention  the  infinite  variety  of  ad- 
vantages, in  point  of  protection  and  otiierwise,  which  the  enjoyment  of 
the  elective  franchise  gives  to  those  who  possess  it,  nor  the  consequent 
inconveniences  to  which  tliose  who  arc  deprived  thereof  are  liable,  not 
to  mention  the  disgrace  to  thrcn  fourths  of  your  loyal  subjects  of  Ire- 
land of  living,  the  only  body  of  n  incapable  of  franchise,  in  a  nation 
possessing  a  free  constitution,  it  continually  happens,  and  of  necessity, 
from  the  malignant  nature  of  the  law,  must  happen,  that  multitudes  of 
the  Catholic  tenantry,  in  divers  counties  in  tliis  kingdom,  are,  at  tlio 
expiration  of  their  leases,  expelled  from  their  tenements  and  farms,  to 
make  room  for  Protestant  freeholders,  who,  by  tljcir  votes,  may  con- 
tribute to  the  weight  and  importance  of  their  landlords :  a  circumstance 
which  renders  tlie  recurrence  of  a  general  election  —  that  period  which 
is  tlie  boast  and  laudable  triumph  of  our  Protestant  brethren  —  a  visita- 
tion and  heavy  curse  to  us,  your  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects. 
And  may  it  please  your  majesty,  this  uncertainty  of  possession  to  your 
majesty's  Catliolic  subjects  operates  as  a  perpetual  restraint  and  dis- 
couragement on  industry  and  the  spirit  of  cultivation,  whereby  it  hap- 
pens uiat  this  your  majesty's  kingdom  of  Ireland,  possessing  many  and 
great  natural  advantages  of  soil  and  climate,  so  as  to  be  exceeded 
therein  by  few,  if  any,  countries  on  tlie  earth,  is  yet  prevented  from 
availing  herself  thereof  so  fully  as  she  otherwise  might,  to  the  further- 
ance of  your  majesty's  honor,  and  the  more  effectual  support  of  your 
service. 

And  may  it  please  your  majesty,  the  evil  does  not  even  rest  here; 
for  many  of  your  majesty's  Catholic  subjects,  to  preserve  their  families 
from  total  destruction,  submit  to  a  nominal  conformity,  against  their 
conviction  and  their  conscience;  and,  preferring  perjury  to  famine, 
take  oaths  which  they  utterly  disbelieve :  a  circumstance  which,  we 
doubt  not,  will  shock  your  majesty's  well-known  and  exemplary  piety, 
not  less  than  tlie  misery  which  drives  those  unhappy  wretches  to  so 
desperate  a  measure  must  distress  and  wound  your  royal  clemency  and 
commiseration. 

And  may  it  please  your  majesty,  though  we  might  here  rest  our  case 
on  its  own  merits,  justice,  and  expediency,  yet  we  further  presume 
humbly  to  submit  to  your  majesty,  that  the  right  of  franchise  was,  with 
divers  other  rights,  enjoyed  by  the  Catholics  of  this  kingdom,  from  the 
first  adoption  of  the  English  constitution  by  our  forefathers;  was 
secured  to  at  least  a  great  part  of  our  body  by  the  treaty  of  Limerick, 
in  1691,  guarantied  by  your  majesty's  royal  predecessors,  King  William 
and  Queen  Mary,  and  finally  coimrmed  and  ratified  by  Parliament ;  not- 


APPENDIX. 


357 


withstanding  which,  and  in  direct  breach  of  tho  public  faith  of  the 
nution,  thus  solemnly  pledged,  for  which  our  ancestors  paid  a  valuable 
consideration,  in  tho  surrender  of  their  arins  and  a  great  part  of  this 
kingdoui,  and  notwithstanding  the  most  scrupulous  adherence,  on  our 
part,  to  tho  terms  of  the  said  treaty,  and  our  unremitting  loyalty  from 
that  day  to  the  present,  the  said  right  of  elective  franchise  was  finally 
and  universally  taken  away  from  tho  Catholics  of  Ireland,  so  lately  as 
tho  first  year  of  his  majesty  King  George  II. 

And  wh)>n  wo  thus  prenume  to  submit  this  infraction  of  the  treaty 
of  Limerick  to  your  majesty's  royul  notice,  it  is  not  that  we  ouiselves 
consider  it  to  be  the  strong  part  of  our  case ;  for,  though  our  rights 
were  recognized,  they  were  by  no  means  created  by  that  treaty ;  and 
we  do,  witli  all  humility,  conceive,  that,  if  no  such  event  as  the  said 
treaty  had  ever  taken  place,  your  majesty's  Catholic  subjects,  from 
tlicir  unvarying  loyalty  and  dutiful  submission  to  tho  laws,  and  from 
the  great  siipport  afforded  by  them  to  your  majesty's  government  in  this 
country,  as  well  in  their  persona!  service  in  your  majesty's  fleets  and 
armies  as  from  the  taxes  and  revenues  levied  on  their  property,  are 
fully  competent  and  justly  entitled  to  participate  and  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings of  the  constitution  of  their  country. 

And  now  that  we  have,  with  all  humility,  submitted  our  grievances 
to  your  majesty,  permit  us,  most  gracious  sovereign,  again  to  repre- 
sent our  sincere  attachment  to  the  constitution,  as  established  in  three 
estates  of  King,  Lords,  and  Commons;  our  uninterrupted  loyalty, 
peaceable  demeanor,  and  submission  to  the  laws  for  one  hundred 
years ;  and  our  determination  to  persevere  in  the  same  dutiful  conduct 
which  has,  under  your  majesty's  happy  auspices,  procured  us  those 
relaxations  of  the  penal  statutes,  which  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature 
has  from  time  to  time  thought  proper  to  grant ;  we  humbly  presume  to' 
hope  that  your  majesty,  in  your  paternal  goodness  and  affection  towards 
a  numerous  and  oppressed  body  of  your  loyal  subjects,  may  be  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  recommend  to  your  Parliament  of  Ireland  to  take 
into  their  consideration  the  whole  of  our  situation,  our  numbers,  our 
merits,  and  our  sufferings ;  and,  as  we  do  not  give  place  to  any  of  your 
majesty's  subjects  in  loyalty  and  attachment  to  your  sacred  person,  we 
cannot  suppress  our  wishes  of  being  restored  to  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  the  constitution  of  our  country,  and  thereby  becoming  more 
worthy,  as  well  as  more  capable,  of  rendering  your  majesty  that  ser- 
vice, which  it  is  not  less  our  duty  than  our  inclination  to  afford. 

So  may  your  majesty  transmit  to  your  latest  posterity  a  crown 
secured  by  public  advantage  and  public  affection;  and  so  may  your 
royal  person  become,  if  possible,  more  dear  to  your  grateful  people. 

[The  above  petition  is  signed  by  the  delegates  from  the  following 
counties,  cities,  and  towns,  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland.] 


John  Thomas  Troy,  D.  D.,  Roman 
Catholic  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 

H.  Moylan,  D.  D.,  Roman  Catholic 
Bishop  of  Cork,  , 


For  ourselves  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  prelates  and  clergy 
of  Ireland. 


^58 


APPENDIX. 


Luke  Teilinsf, 

Oliver'O'Hara, 

Bernard  O'Neill, 

Theo.  MacKenna, 

Charles  Whittington, 

Owen  O'Callaghan, 

Walter  Fitzfferald, 

Edward  Butler, 

William  Finn,  Thomas  Warren, 

Hugh  O'Reily, 

James  Pallas, 

Edward  Dowell, 

Patrick  Dowell, 

Patrick  O'Reilly, 

Lawrence  Comyn, 

James  O'Gorman, 

Nicholas  Mahon, 

Daniel  O'Connell,, 

Francis  MacMahcn,  Jr., 

William  Coppinger, 

John  Therry, 

Nicholas  Francis  Coppinger, 

D.  Rochfort, 

Bryan  Scheehy, 

Edward  Byrne, 

Dennis  Thomas  O'Brien,       ' 

Richard  Dodd, 

Daniel  MacLaughlin, 

Andrew  MacShane, 

Samuel  Norris, 

John  O'NeUl, 

John  Magenis, 

Thomas  Savage, 

James  Kenney, 

Patrick  Thunder, 

Bany  Lawless, 

Patrick  Smith, 

Peter  Farrell, 

Thomas  Segrave, 

Henry  Thunder, 

James  Kiernan, 

Philip  Maguire, 

Terence  Maguire, 

Richard  Kiernan, 

Christopher  Dillon  Bellew, 

Christopher  Bellew, 

Thomas  French, 

Thomas  Hussey, 

Matthew  Moriarty, 


For  ourselves  and  the  Catholici 
of  the  county  of  Antrim. 

County  of  Armagh. 


County  of  Carlow. 
County  of  Cavan. 

County  of  Clare. 


Couvty  and  city  of  Cork. 


County  of  Donnegal. 


County  of  Down. 


>  County  of  Dublin. 

County  of  Fermanagh. 

County  of  Galway. 

>  County  of  Kerry. 


und  the  Catholici 
^  of  Antrim. 

lagh. 


ow. 


an. 


•e. 


ty  of  Cork. 


megal. 


m. 


ilin. 

•managh. 

[way. 

rry. 


APPENDIX. 


359 


Thomas  Fitzgerald,  Jr., 
Charles  Aylmer, 
John  Esmonde, 
Christopher  Nangle, 
James  Archbold, 
Randel  MacDonnell, 
Edward  Sheil, 
Nicholas  Devereux, 
Patrick  Oliver  Plunkett, 
Francis  Bennett, 
Myles  Keon, 
Hugh  O'Beime, 
John  Keogh, 
Robert  Dillon, 
Bryan  Sheehy, 
R.  Sheehy  Keatin^e, 
Richard  MacCormick, 
Andrew  MacShane, 
Richard  Dodd, 
James  Count  Nugent, 
Christopher  Nugent, 
Bernard  O'Reilly, 
Edward  MacEvoy, 
John  Weldon, 
Patrick  Byrne, 
Patrick  Russell, 
James  Joseph  MacDonnell, 
Edmund  Dillon, 
Andrew  Crean  Lynch, 
Nicholas  Fitzgerald, 
Theodore  Mahon, 
James  Nangle, 
Bartholomew  Bamwall, 
Michael  Johnson, 
Richard  Barnewall, 
Thomas  Ryan  M.  D.,  - 
Hugh  Hamill, 
James  Carolan, 
Bartholomew  Clinton, 
Daniel  Reilly, 
Morgan  Kavanagh, 
James  Warren, 
William  Dunne, 
Edward  Byrne,  Jr., 
John  Fallen, 
James  Plunkett, 
Owen  O'Connor, 


County  of  Kildare. 

County  of  Kilkenny. 
King's  County. 

County  of  Leitrim. 
County  of  Limerick. 


]   County  of  Londondeny. 
County  of  Westmeath.  ' 


County  of  Louth. 


County  of  Mayo. 


{ 


{ 


County  of  Meath. 


County  of  Monaghan. 


Queen's  County. 


County  of  Roscommon. 


I 


Hr 


360 


APPENDIX. , 


Huffh  MacDermot,  M.  D., 

J.  Everard, 

Patrick  Mullarky, 

John  MacDonogh, 

Charles  O'Connor, 

James  Aylward, 

Lawrence  Smyth, 

John  Lalor, 

Dennis  O'Meagher, 

Thomas  Mahon, 

Thomas  Richard  Geraghty, 

Terence  O'Neill, 

Bernard  MacMahon, 

John  Ball, 

John  Byrne, 

John  Fairfield, 

Patrick  Power, 

Bartholomew  Rivers, 

Richard  MacKenna, 

John  Dillon, 

Thomas  Kirwan, 

James  Edward  Devereaux, 

Harvey  Hay, 

Edward  Hay, 

Edward  Sweetman, 

Walter  Byrne, 

Thomas  Fitz  Simon, 

Richard  Doyle, 

Patrick  Cavenagh, 

Peter  Brady, 

Michael  Dardis, 

Lattin  Fitzgerald, 

John  Walsh, 

John  Cormick, 

Christopher  Teeling,  M.  D., 

Laurence  MacDei^ott, 

John  Byrne, 

Edward  Madden, 

Thomas  Warren, 

Lewis  Flanegan,   > 

James  MoUoy, 

Thomas  Magan,     , 

Ignatius  Weldon,  * 

Thomas  Lynch, 

Edward  Sutton, 

William  Kearney, 

Michael  MacCarty, 


i 

1 


County  of  Sligo. 


County  of  Tipperary. 


County  of  Tyrone. 


County  and  city  of  Waterford. 


County  of  Wexford. 


County  of  Wicklow. 


I 


County  of  Westmeath. 

Town  of  Carrickfergus. 

Town  of  Armagh. 
Town  of  Inniskillin. 
Town  of  Carlow. 

Philliptown. 

Town  of  Dundalk. 

Town  of  Trim. 

Town  of  Wexford. 


APPENDIX. 


861 


•erary. 


>ne. 


;y  of  Waterford. 


xford. 


sklow. 


stmeath. 


ickfergiis. 

igh. 
ikillin. 


ialk. 
(1. 

ford. 


Fnncii  Arthur, 
Jasper  White,  ^ 

Luke  Stritch, 
Georjife  O'!lalloran, 
Wilham  Sweetman, 
Charles  Young, 

iohn  Rivera, 
latthew  James  Plnnkett, 
Henry  Lynch, 
Malachy  O'Connor. 
Edmund  Lynch  Atny, 
Martin  F.  Lynch, 
James  Fitz  Simons, 
N.  LeFavre, 
Hugh  Leonard, 
John  Dunn, 
James  Bird, 
Hoger  Hamill, 
Gerald  Dillon, 
Jeremiah  Dwyer, 
Simon  Kelly, 
Mark  Dowhn, 
James  Reilly, 
Charleti  Drumgooie, 
Paul  Houston, 
Philip  Sullivan, 
Thomas  Doran, 
James  Kelly, 
'  John  Donahoe, , 
Con.  Loughmyn, 
John  Shearman, 
John  Murphy, 
James  Dixon, 
Joseph  Patrick  Cahill, 
G.  Fitzgerald, 
John  MacLoghlin, 
William  James  MacNeven, 
Edward  Geoghehan, 
Denis  Cassin, 
Richard  Cross, 
Patrick  Byrne, 
Thomas  Bourke, 
John  O'NeUl, 
Richard  Browne, 
Gregory  Scurlog, 
Hubert  Thomas  Dolphin, 
Henry  Johnston, 
Patrick  Byrne, 
W.  S.  Kindelan, 

31 


City  of  Limerick. 


Clonmell. 

TownofGalway 

Carrick  on  Shannon. 
Town  of  Castlebar. 
TownofSligo. 

Town  of  Drogheda. 

TownofCashel. 
Town  of  Athlone. 

Town  and  lordship  of  Newry;    \ 

Town  of  Enniscorthy. 

Ballyshannon. 

Town  of  Camck  ou^Soir. 

City  ofKilkeniiy. 

Dungarvan. 

Town  of  Athy. 

Town  of  Boyle. 

Navan. 

Town  of  Ballymahon. 

Town  of  Belfast 

Town  of  Athboy. 

Town  of  Carrickmacrosa. 

Loughrea.  \ 

Maryborough. 

>  Ardee. 


362 


APPENDIX. 


1  »^j 


A.  Thompson, 
John  Esmond, 
Joseph  Byrne, 
Anthony  French, 
John  Ball,  Jr., 
John  Duffy, 
Christopher  Taylor, 
Richard  Dillon, 
Thomas  Kennedy, 
Jonathan  Lynch, 
Thomas  Glanan, 
James  Murphy, 
John  White, 
Lewis  Lyons, 
Patrick  Bean, 
Edward  Lewines, 
A.  Daly,  M.  D., 
Nicholas  Elcock, 
Simon  Maguire, 
William  Hyland, 
Patrick  Marsh, 
Thomas  Reynolds, 
John  Bweetiuan, 
Michael  Boylan, 
James  Conolly, 
Thomas  Braughall, 
Charles  Ryan, 
John  Ball, 

Thomas  MacDonnell, 
Christopher*Kelly, 
Patrick  Sweetman, 
John  Sutton, 
John  Comerford, 
Patrick  Grehan, 
James  Ferrall, 
William  Clark, 
John  Kearney, 
Richard  Walsh, 
J.  G.  Kennedy, 
John  Andrews, 


\ 


Town  of  ThurleBk 

TownofNaaa. 

Town  of  Athenry. 
Maryborough. 
Town  of  Roscrea. 
Town  of  Swords. 


City  of  Dublin. 


f, 


APPENDIX. 


363 


NO.  IV.    . 

V 

THE  POPE'S  LETTER  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 

THE  VETO. 

ADDRESSED  TO  THE  CATHOLIC  PRELATES  OF  IRELAND. 


TO  OUB  VENERABLE   BROTHERS, 

The  Archbishops  aryi  Bishops  of  Ireland. 
PIUS  P.  P.  VII. 

Venerable  brothers,  health  and  apostolical  benediction.  The  peni- 
sal  of  your  letter,  delivered  to  us  by  our  venerable  brothers,  Dam6l, 
Archbishop  of  Hierapolis,  coadjutor  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and 
John,  Bishop  of  Cork,  together  with  certain  resolutions  passed  with 
your  joint  concurrence  at  a  synod  held  in  Dublin,  on  the  ^d  and  24th 
days  of  August,  of  the  last  year,  1815,  has  impressed  our  mind  with  a 
deep  sense  of  concern.  For  we,  having  openly  declared  the  conditions 
to  which  we  could  assent,  in  case  the  expectation  excited  by  tire  gov- 
ernment of  granting  emancipation  should  be  realized,  imagined  we  had, 
aa  far  as  in  our  power  lay,  removed  the  difficulties  which  opposed  the 
emancipation  of  the  Catholics  of  ^e  kingdom  of  Great  Britain,  and,  in 
a  certain  degree,  had  prepared  a  way  for  the  obtainment  of  a  benefit, 
so  long  and  so  earnestly  looked  for.  With  this  hope,  and  relying  on  it 
with  certain  confidence,  we  gave  instructions  to  our  venerable  brother 
Laurence,  Bishop  of  Sabina,  cardinal  of  the  holy  Roman  church,  and 
prefect  of  the  congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  to  communicate  our 
sentiments  ina  lettar  to  our  venerable  orother  the  Archbishop  of  Dub- 
lin, through  whom  they  might  subsequently  be  made  known  to  your 
whole  body  also,  which  has  been  performed  by  him  according  to  the 
instructions  received  from  us.  With  what  pain  then  do  we  find  it  ex- 
pressly declared  in  your  letter,  that  the  expedient  which,  amongst  others, 
we  signified  that  we  would  follow,  for  satisfying  the  government  of  the 
loyalty  of  those  to  be  elected  bishops,  not  only  did  not  meet  your  ap- 
probation, but  appeared  to  you  to  threaten  destruction  to  the  Catholic 
religion  in  Ireland !  Wherefore,  in  conformity  with  our  duty,  we  de- 
spatch the  present  letter  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  effacing  from  your 
minds  the  not  sufi|ciently  well-founded  opinion  which  you  appear  to  en- 
tertain in  regard  to  the  expedient  above  alluded  to.  We  trust  that 
God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  vicar  on  earth,  though  from  no 
merits  of  our  own,  we  glory  in  being,  will  give  from  above  such  force 
to  our  words,  that  the  weighty  reasons  which  we  are  about  to  lay  be- 


•I 


)    I    i     ^   tj 


las  f'3 
1 .   i*  I 


* 


364 


APPENDIX.' 


fore  you  shall  so  affect  your  minds  as  to  induce  you  to  lay  aside  all 
anxiety  relative  to  the  expedient  already  stated  as  approved  of  by  us. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  venerable  brothers,  that  you  should  bring 
distinctly  to  your  recollection  the  point  of  the  expedient  proposed  by 
us,  which  has  caused  you  so  much  fear  and  anxiety.  When  it  became 
incumbent  on  us  to  adopt  some  method  by  which,  after  the  law  granting 
emancipation  should  be  passed,  the  government  might  be  satisfied  of  the 
loyalty  of  those  to  be  chosen  bishops,  of  which  those  at  the  head  of  it 
entertained  very  groundless  indeed,  but  very  serious  apprehensions, 
what  did  we  propose  ?  Was  it,  that  under  the  obligation  of  a  conven- 
tion, or  by  any  other  mode,  or  in  any  other  form  to  be  submitted  to,  per- 
haps if  not  strictly  eligible,  the  right  of  nomination,  of  presentation,  of 
postulation,  should  be  granted  to  government,  so  that  those  administer- 
mg  it  might  dictate  to  us  the  names  of  clergymen  to  be  by  us  appointed 
bishops  in  that  kingdom  ?  By  no  means ;  for  whil&  we  strenuously  ad- 
hered to  the  wise  principles  of  our  never-to-be-forgotten  predecessor, 
Pope  Benedict  the  Fourteenth,  relative  to  the  never  granting  to  princes, 
not  being  Catholics,  the  privilege  of  nominating  to  bishoprics  or  abba- 
cies, declared  by  him  in  a  letter  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Breslaw,  on 
the  15th  of  May,. in  the  year  1748,  we  carried  our  precautions  so  far, 
that  we  proposed  nothing  which  could  with  truth  be  said  to  convey  to 
the  government  a  powet  as  to  the  choice  of  bishops.  We  only  de- 
clared that  we  would  grant  a  certain  power  of  exclusion;  and,  in 
order  that  the  power  so  given  might  never  be  turned  into  a  privilege 
of  election,  we  circumscribed  it  within  certain  limits,  and,  as  expressly 
stated  in  the  letter  of  Cardinal  Litta,  already  quoted,  we  announced,  that 
what  we  meant  to  permit  was  to  extend  no  further  than  this —  "  That 
those  whose  province  it  is  may  present  to  the  king's  ministers  the 
list  of  the  candidates,  in  order  that  i|  there  be  amongst  them  the  name 
of  any  person  displeasing  to,  or  suspected  by,  the  government;,  such 
name  may  be,  immediately  pointed  out  and  erased ;  still,  however,  so 
that  a  sufficient  number  may  remain,  from  which  his  holiness  may  freely 
choose  whom  in  the  Lord  he  may  judge  more  fit  for  presiding  over  the 
vacant  sees."  This  then  is  what  we  propose  to  allow,  in  order  that 
all  room  for  doubt  concerning  the  loyalty  of  the  prelacy  should  be  re- 
moved from  the  mind  of  govbrnment.  Its  sphere  of  interference  will 
be,  you  must  perceive,  very  limited,  being  confined  to  this  —  that  it  shall 
be  empowered  to  erase  from  the  list  of  candidates  to  be  presented  to 
this  holy  see  for  appointment  to  vacant -bishoprics  (which  list  we  al- 
lowed should  be  submitted  to  the  king's  ministers  for  that  purpose)  the 
names  of  any  persons  whose  loyalty  may  be  viewed  with  suspicion, 
still,  however,  with  this  stipulation  and  condition,  that,  after  the  erasure 
of  those  names,  a  sufficient  number  of  candidates  shall  remain,  from 
which  we,  and  the  popes  of  Rome,  our  successors,  may  freely  choose 
him  "Whom  we  shall  judge  of  all  the  most  worthy  of  the  episcopal  rank 
and  office. 

Wherefore,  venerable  brothers,  it  is  unquestionably  evident,  that  what 
we  have  done  amounts  only  to  this :  we  have  agreed  to  act  steadily  to- 
wards the  British  government,  according  to  the  same  rule,  useful  in 


APPENDIX. 


365 


i  lay  aside  all 
oved  of  by  us. 
1  should  bring 
nt  proposed  by 
Then  it  became 
le  law  granting 
satisfied  of  the 
tthe  head  of  it 
apprehensions, 
)n  of  a  conven- 
bmitted  to,  per- 
presentation,  of 
lose  administer- 
hy  us  appointed 
strenuously  ad- 
ten  predecessor, 
[iting  to  princes, 
shoprics  or  abba- 
of  Breslaw,  on 
Bcautions  so  far, 
laid  to  convey  to 
I.    We  only  de- 
lusion; and,  in 
into  a  privilege 
ind,  as  expressly 
;  announced,  that 
an  this— "That 
r's  ministers  the 
5t  them  the  name 
rovernmeni;,  such 
kill,  however,  so 
)liness  may  freely 
residing  over  the 
ow,  in  order  that 
icy  should  be  re- 
interference  will 
his  —  that  it  shall 
0  be  presented  to 
''which  list  we  al- 
'  that  purpose)  the 
jdwith  suspicion, 
,  after"  the  erasure 
hall  remain,  from 
nay  freely  choose 
he  episcopal  rank 

evident,  that  what 
to  act  steadily  to- 
^e  rule,  useful  in 


itself,  fotinded  in  prudence,  which  our  predecessors,  the  Roman  pontifl^, 
even  before  those  times  when  the  nomination  of  bishops  was  granted  to 
princes,  determined,  in  their  wisdom,  to  maintain  as  effectually  as  might 
De  ;  that  is,  not  to  promote  to  vacant  sees  any  persons  whom  Uiey  might 
know  to  be  unpleasing  to  the  powers  under  whom  the  dioceses  to  be 
administered  by  them  were  situated  ;  which  rule,  far  from  being  con- 
sidered injurious  to  the  church,  and  far  from  having  brought  any  evil  on 
it,  is  justly  approved  of  and  praised  by  all.  For  it  is  founded  on  a  prin- 
ciple laid  down  by  another  of  our  most  illustrious  predecessors,  St. 
Leo  the  Great,*  "  that  none  be  ordained  bishop  without  the  consent  and 
postulation  of  the  flock,  lest  an  unwelcome  intruder  incur  its  contempt 
or  hatred."  Now,  this  principle,  although  literally  applicable  to  the 
people  only,  to  whose  postulations  at  that  time  regard  was  had  in  the 
election  of  bishops,  must  rightfully  be  extended  to  princes,  the  neces- 
sary circumstances  concurring,  and  even  to  those  who  are  not  in  com- 
munion with  us,  who,  from  the  nature  of  their  power  in  temporal  af- 
fairs, have  so  easily  the  means  of  preventing  a  bishop,  who  may  be  the 
object  of  their  dislike  or  suspicion,  from  the  care  of  the  flock  commit- 
ted to  his  charge. 

But  you  appear  to  entertain  serious  apprehensions  that,  if  the  power 
spoken  of  be  granted,  the  government  may  successively  erase,  from  the 
list  to  be  presented  to  it,  the  names  of  those  most  worthy  of  the  honor 
of  episcopacy,  and  by  this  means  compel  those  who  shall  have  the  trans- 
action of  the  business  to  name  the  clergyman  whom  it  shall  judge  most 
likely  to  be  subservient  to  its  views,  and  that  tlie  destruction  of  the 
^  Catholic  religion  may  thence  take  its  rise.  Observe,  however,  vener- 
~  able  brothers,  how  destitute  these  your  apprehensions  are  of  all  reason 
and  all  foundation ;  remember  that  the  government  which,  under  other 
circumstances,  might  be  suspected  of  entertaining  projects  hostile  to 
the  Catholic  religion,  is  the  same  which  by  laws,  especially  those  passed 
in  the  years  1773,  1788,  1791,  and  1793,  repealed  a  great  part  of  those 
penal  statutes  by  which  th  Catholics  of  the  Bntish  empire  were  so 
grievously  oppressed  ;  rem»nnber  how  often  your  most  excellent  King 
George  the  Third,  and  his  ilin  i  rious  son,  have  extended  their  protection 
to  Catholics,  and  thai:  fJie  Br  i'  h  government  was  amongst  the  chief  of 
our  supporters  in  procurine:  ou:  return  to  the  pontifical  chair,  and  our 
restoration  to  our  ancient  ii \f dependence  in  the  exercise  of  those  spiritual 
rights  which  the  hand  oJ'  violence  i  ad  wrested  from  us.  Upon  what 
grounds,  therefore,  could  any  one  suspect  that  this  same  government 
entertained  a  design  to  destroy  that  most  holy  religion,  \^hich,  by  its 
favor  and  protection,  it  had  so  often  guarded  ?  And  if  certain  at- 
tempts are  still  made  in  your  island,  to  tiio  injury  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, these  undoubtedly  either  are  the  acts  of  private  individuals,  or 
they  will  altogether  cease,  as  soon  as  all  laws  enacted  against  Catholics 
being  repealed,  the  latter  shall  be  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  other 
subjects,  and  no  objection  be  further  made  to  the  free  profession  of  the 
CaUiolic  religion. 

*  Leo  Magnus,  Ep.  12,     \nascap.  5. 

31* 


366 


APPENDIX. 


'J 


I   si 


Now,  althou^  it  were  a  thing  to  be  apprehended,  which  to  us  ap- 
pear altogether  incredible,  that  the  projects  of  government  were 
directed  to  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic  religion,  yet  the  power  which 
we  declared,  ourselves  willing  to  grant  could  never  be  perverted  into 
the  mepns  of  producing  such  an  effect  For  the  list  in  which'  the 
names  of  the  candidates  are  to  be  contained  will  certainly  not  be  made 
out  by  the  government,  but  by  the  care  and  attention  of  those,  being 
Catholics,  who  usually  propose  to  this  see  persons  for  promotion  to  the 
vacant  bishoprics  of  your  kingdom,  which  Catiiolics,  excelled  by  none 
in  their  zeal  for  religion,  will  insert  in  their  list  the  names  of  such  ec- 
clesiastics only  as  they  phall  judge  best  suited  for  sustaining  the  weight 
of  the  episcopal  dignity ;  but  government,  according  to  the  condition, 
which  is,  as  we  have  mentioned,  to  make  an  essential  part  of  our  proposed 
concession,  shall  be  allowed  to  point  out  for  erasure  from  the  list,  not 
cUl,  but  some  only  of  the  names  proposed,  and  be  bound  to  leave  a  suffi- 
cient number,  out  of  which  a  free  election  of  one  may  be  made  by  us. 
So  that,  although  some  be  rejected  by  government,  yet  our  selection  will 
still  be  occupied  about  such  only  as,  by  the  suffrage  of  Catholics,  shall 
have  been  judged  the  most  worthy,  and  therefore  inserted  in  the  lists  of 
candidates,  and  for  this  reason  it  can  never  happen  (provided  the  con- 
dition laid  down  by  us  be  adhered  to,  from  which,  if  any  deviation  be 
made,  the  concession  itself  becomes  invalid)  that  the  government,  by 
excluding  many  in  succession,  should,  at  last,  compel  the  electors  to 
the  choice  of  one  unworthy  of  the  office,  wiA  likely  to  be  subservient 
to  its  plans  for  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic  religion. 

This  also,  venerable  brothers,  it  is  right  that  you  should  seriously 
advert  to,  that  it  was  not  possible  for  us  to  refuse  this  small  interfer- 
ence in  the  election  of  bishops  to  the  British  government,  without  ex- 
citing, in  a  serious  degree,  the  displeasure  of  that  government  towards 
the  whole  church.  It  were  indeed  to  be  wished,  and  it  is  what  we  of 
all  others  most  earnestly  desire,  that  in  the  election  of  bishops  we^en- 
joyed  that  full  and  complete  freedom  which  so  peculiarly  makes  a  part 
of  our  supremacy  and  that  no  lay  power  had  any  share  whatever  in  a 
matter  of  so  much  moment.  But  you  yourselves  well  know  how  far 
*7G  are  at  present  removed  from  this  hp,ppy  state  of  things.  For  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe,  or  mauj  of  them  at  least,  have  demanded  anH 
obtained,  from  the  apostolical  see,  a  greater  or  lesser  share  of  influence 
in  the  nomination  of  candidates.  And  hence  have  arisen  the  conven- 
tions, the  indults,  the  nominations,  the  postulations,  the  presentations, 
and  other  expedients  of  this  kind,  by  which  the  extent  of  the  privileges 
'  granted  in  this  way  to  so  many  Catholic  sovereigns  is  limited  and  de- 
fined. Even  in  your  islands,  before  the  ever-to-be-lamented  separation 
from  the  Roman  church  took  place,  the  bishops  were  chosen  by  the 
pope,  upon  the  supplication  of  the  king,  as  is  recorded  in  the  acts  of 
the  consistory,  held  on  the  6th  of  July,  in  the  year  1554,  during  the  aus- 
picious pontificate  of  Pope  Julius  the  Third.*    Besides,  not  Catholic 


*  Apul.  Baynaldum  ad  an.  1554,  Nos.  5  and  6. 


APPENDIX. 


367 


lich  to  US  ap- 
emment  were 
3  power  which 
perverted  into 
in  which'  the 
y  not  be  made 
if  those,  being 
emotion  to  the 
jelled  by  none 
es  of  such  ec- 
ling  the  weight 
the  condition, 
Df  our  proposed 
jm  the  list,  not 
to  leave  a  suffi- 
be  made  by  us. 
ir  selection  will 
Catholics,  shall 
din  the  lists  of 
ovided  the  con- 
ny  deviation  be 
government,  by 
the  electors  to 
>  be  subservient 

hould  seriously 
3  small  interfer- 
jnt,  without  ex- 
rnment  towards 
t  is  what  we  of 
aishops  we, on- 
ly makes  a  part 
e' whatever  in  a 
11  know  how  far 
hings.    For  the 
J  demanded  anf! 
lare  of  influehco 
sen  the  conyen- 
„  presentations, 
of  the  privileges 
limited  and  de- 
Buted  separation 
e  chosen  by  the 
din  the  acts  of 
,  during  the  aus- 
des,  not  Catholic 


6. 


sovereigns  alone,  but  others  also  who  are  separated  from  our  commu- 
nion, ckiim  a  share  in  the  appointment  of  ecclesiastical  persons  to 
bishoprics,- situated  in  those  parts  of  their  dominions  which  yet  adhere 
to  the  Catholic  faith ;  a  claim  which  this  see  feels  it  necessary  to  sub- 
mit to. 

Such  being  the  state  of  this  momentous  question,  what  hope  could 
there  be  entertained  that  the  British  government  would  long  have  sub- 
mitted to  an  exclusion  from  a  share  in  appointing  the  bishops  of  your 
island,  even  such  as  it  has  been  explained,  while  a  conduct  so  ditferent 
is  observed,  not  only  to  Catholic  sovereigns,  to  those  even  whose  do- 
minions are  of  the  smallest  extent,  but  also  to  princes  who  do  not  belong 
to  our  communion  ?  Was  it  not  to  be  feared,  that,  if  we  had  declined 
adopting  the  measure  already  mrntioned,  the  government  would  not 
only  lay  aside  all  intention  of  granting  emnacipation  to  the  Catholics, 
but  withdraw  from  them  all  fp.vur  and  protection  throughout  the  whole 
of  its  so  widely-extended  dominions  ? 

Moreover,  an  additional  motive  of  jealousy  must  arise  in  the  mind 
of  government  towards  us  and  the  Catholic  cause  from  this  circum- 
stance, that  the  bishops  subject  to  its  dominion,  being  rendered  by  ihe 
emancipation,  supposing  it  granted,  ([ualified  to  sit  in  Parliament,  new 
precautions  might  appear  necessary  to  remove  all  possibility  of  doubt 
concerning  their  loyalty.  We  grant,  indeed,  that  no  additional  pledge 
of  that  loyalty  can  appear  necessary  to  us,  proved  as  it  is  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  experience  of  so  many  ageS,  and  tl^e  bishops  binding 
themselves  to  fidelity  and  obedience  towards  the  government,  by  the 
obligation  of  an  oath,  according  to  the  second  of  the  three  forms  which 
we  have  proposed  ;  but  how  is  it  to  be  expected  that  the  government 
will  consent  to  relinquish  this  additional  security  for  the  loyalty  of  the 
bishops,  which  in  the  case  of  so  many  other  sovereigns  and  governments 
is  fully  allowed  ?  Hov^  can  it  be  imagined  that  the  British  government 
will  not  conceive  itself  unfairly  treated,  by  the  refusal  of  this  addi- 
tional security ;  or  that  it  will  not  derive  from  it  a  motive  of  doubting 
the  loyalty  of  the  Catholic;?,  which  unprincipled  men  are  constantly  la- 
boring to  bring  under  suspicion  ?  Who  can  believe  that  the  refusal  of 
even  snch  a  return  ;^  ^his  for  the  mighty  benefit  of  emancipation  must 
not  excite  deep  resentment  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are  expected  to 
grant  it  ? 

For  the  prevention,  therefore,  of  those  evils  which  were  to  be  appre- 
hended on  the  part  of  so  powerful  a  government,  no  other  means 
appeared  to  us  sufficient  but  that  of  agreeing  to  those  rules  relative  to 
the  election  of  bishops,  which  are  mentioned  in  the  letter  of  Cardinal 
Litta. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  power  which  we  have  expressed  an  inten- 
tion of  granting,  we  consider  it  not  only  as  making  part  of  a  fit  and 
wise  arrangement  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  which  shall  be  at  once  not 
injurious  to  religion,  and  a  means  of  averting  from  it  many  calamities 
otherwise  to  be  feared,  but  also  as  a  likely  motive  towards  the  obtain- 
ment  of  emancipation,  whicli  has  been  a  principal  inducement  witli  us 
to  concede  it,  desirable  as  that  emancipation  is  to  the  Catholics,  and 


I 


368 


APPENDIX. 


N-?f*sr . 


ia 


a-J, 


attended,  as  it  must  be,  with  a  large  share  of  spiritual  advantages. 
Turn  your  thoughts,  venerable  broUiers,  to  this,  and  consider  it  with 
particular  attention,  that  we,  in  granting  to  government  the  indulgence 
so  often  spoken  of,  have  been  influenced  by  no  political  or  temporal 
motives,  but  induced  solely  by  a  consideration  of  those  benefits  and 
advantages  which  must  flow  to  the  Catholic  religion  from  the  repeal  of 
the  penal  laws.  For  under  the  operation  of  those  laws,  whose  severity 
is  to  be  considered  as  not  falling  short  of  any,  even  the  most  grievous 
of  the  persecutions,  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  church,  what  afflic- 
tions, what  oppressions,  was  not  the  Catholic  religion  subject  to  in  your 
islands  ?  For  in  Great  Britain,  as  you  need  not  oe  told,  the  Catholics 
are  reduced  to  an  inconsiderable  number,  while  the  succession  of  the 
Catholic  bishops  is  in  a  manner  destroyed,  a  few  vicars  apostolic  alone 
remaining ;  but  in  Ireland,  although  the  legitimate  succession  of  the 
hierarchy  has  been  preserved  inviolate  down  to  the  present  day,  and 
although  the  Irish  Catholics  have  been  ever  eminent  for  a  most  zealous 
attachment  to  our  holy  religion,  yet  their  number  has  been  unquestion- 
ably diminished  by  the  operation  of  the  penal  laws,  as  a  multitude  of 
Irish  writers  abundantly  testify. 

That  the  miserable  oondition  of  the  Catholics  in  both  islands  has 
been  greatly  rejjeved  by  the  clemency  of  George  III.,  and  the  repeal  in 
Parliament  of  many  of  the  laws  by  which  they  were  grievously  op- 
pressed, we  grant  and  acknowledge ;  still,  as  you  well  know,  many  yet 
remain  unrepealed,  which  press  heavily  on  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  and 
Still  more  on  those  of  England,  and  from  which  the  evils  resulting  to 
the  Catholic  religion,  under  their  operation,  must,  to  a  certain  degree 
at  least,  oontin  le  to  flow.  For  which  reason  the  Catholics  of  England, 
almost  all,  and  of  Ireland,  at  least  a  great  number,  entertain  a  most 
earnest  desire  of  the  total  repeal  of  those  laws ;  and  have,  as  is  known 
to  all,  repeatedly  petitioned  for  such  repeal,  in  the  same  manner  as,  in 
the  early  ages  of  the  church,  the  Christians,  making  use  of  St.  Justin 
and  the  other  apologists  to  explain  their  wishes,  besought  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  laws  enacted  against  them,  which  gave  rise  to  the  dreadful 
persecutions  which  took  place  in  the  Roman  empire.  It  may  be  allowed 
to  hope  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  a  law  corresponding  witi) 
the  wishes  of  the  Catholics  shall  be  enacted,  which,  however,  be  their 
right  to  the.  obtainment  of  emancipation  what  it  may,  never,  certainly, 
will  pass,  without  our  previously  granting  the  privilege  in  question. 

The  weight  of  those  reasons,  which  we  have  long  and  duly,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  high  importance,  considered,  has  induced  us,  after  first 
hearing  the  counsel  of  several  of  our  venerable  brothers,  cardinals  of 
tht  l(oly  Roman  church,  and  examining  the  opinion  of  other  men,  emi- 
nent for  learning  and  a  knowledge  of  British  affairs,  to  propose  the 
temperament,  ho  fully  explained  to  you,  for  the  settlement  of  \his 
matter.  We  saw,  indeed,  that  an  infringement,  to  a  certain  degree, 
was  thereby  made  in  the  discipline  of  the  church,  which  claims  for  the 
Roman  pontiff  a  complete  independence  in  the  election  of  bishops. 
But  with  regard  to  discipline,  who  is  ignorant  that  changes  may,  by  the 
legitimate  authority,  be  made,  in  compliance  v/ith  tlie  circumstances 
of  things  and  times  ?  And  this  is  a  principlo  wliich  our  predecessors 
have  uniformly  maintained :  as  an  instance  of  which,  a  noble  maxim  of 


APPENDIX. 


369 


itual  aivantages. 
I  consider  it  with 
mt  the  indulgence 
itical  or  temporal 
hose  benefits  and 
rom  the  repeal  of 
wrs,  whose  severity 
the  most  grievous 
lurch,  what  afflic- 
;  subject  to  in  your 
told,  llie  Catholics 
succession  of  the 
ars  apostolic  alone 

succession  of  the 
e  present  day,  and 

for  a  most  zealous 
s  been  unquestion- 
,  as  a  multitude  of 

n  both  islands  has 
[.,  and  the  repeal  in 
irere  grievously  op- 
ell  know,  many  yet 
alios  of  Ireland,  and 
e  evils  resulting  to 
to  a  certain  degree 
Ltholics  of  England, 
,  entertain  a  most 
have,  as  is  known 
same  manner  as,  in 
g  use  of  St.  Justin 
;sought  the  abroga- 
rise  to  thie  dreadful 
It  may  be  allowed 
corresponding  with 
I,  however,  be  their 
ly,  never,  certainly, 
ege  in  question, 
ig  and  duly,  in  pro- 
duced us,  after  first 
others,  cardinals  of 
of  other  men,  emi- 
airs,  to  propose^ the 
settlement  of  tliis 
a  certain  degree, 
hich  claims  for  the 
Section  of  bishops, 
lianges  may,  by  the 
the  circumstances 
ih  our  predecessors 
I,  a  noble  maxim  of 


V 


St.  Leo  the  Gveat  particularly  occurs  to  us,  as  expressed  in  a  letter  to 
Rusticns,  Bishop  of  Narbonno : *  "As  there  are  certain  things  which 
can  on  no  account  be  altered,  so  are  tliere  many  vvliich  from  a  due 
consideration  of  times,  or  from  the  necessity  of  thmgd,  it  may  bo  right 
to  modify."    We  had  also  before  our  eyes  the  rule  laid  down  by  our 

Eredecessor,  Innocent  III.,  who  sayg,f  "It  is  not  to  be  considered 
lamable  if,  in  consequence  of  a  change  of  times,  a  change  of  human 
laM^s  be  effected,  especially  when  an  urgent  necessity,  or  an  evident 
utility,  calls  for  such  change."  Now,  what  more  powerful  reasons,  what 
more  momentous  circumstances,  could  ever  be  supposed  to  exist,  than 
those  by  which  we  felt  ourselves  affected,  and  which  we  have  not  lieni- 
tated  thus  to  lay  before  you  ?  Since,  therefore,  the  privilege  offered 
by  us  is  in  itself  harmless,  and  consistent  also  with  all  the  rules  of 
prudence ;  since,  from  our  refusal  of  it,  heavy  calamities,  and,  from  our 
grant  of  it,  the  greatest  advantages  must  result  to  the  church,  (under- 
standing by  those  advantages  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics,  im  ^  tiic 
restoration,  in  the  kingdom  of  Groat  Britain,  of  liberty  in  all  things  per- 
taining to  religion,)  why  should  we  hesitate  ?  Whiit  motive  could 
have  retarded  us  from  openly  declaring  our  wish  to  grant  the  privilege 
in  question,  or  from  relaxing  somewhat  from  the  strictness  of  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  ?  We  unquestionably  judged  that  we  were  bound  to 
act  on  this  principle,  and  saw  ourselves  placed  in  such  a  situation,  that 
we  might  justly  adopt  the  expressions  of  our  predecessor,  Gelasius :  | 
"  We  are  compel'  »!,  by  the  inevitable  dispensation  of  things,  and  by  a 
due  regard  to  th.  maxims  of  government  adopted  by  the  apostolical 
see,  so  to  weigh  the  enactment  of  former  canons,  so  to  interpret  the 
decrees  of  preceding  pontiffs,  our  predecessors,  as,  employing  all  due 
and  diligent  consideration,  to  regulate,  as  Avell  as  may  be,  all  those 
things  which  the  necessity  of  the  present  times  may  require  to  be  re- 
laxed for  the  restoration  of  the  churches." 

We,  therefore,  venerable  brothers,  entertain  no  doubt  that  you  all, 
having  considered  and  duly  weighed  what  we  have  thus  set  before  you, 
will  acknowledge  the  measure  adopted  by  us  to  be  most  just,  and  will, 
in  all  respects,  conform  yourselves  to  it.  Let  your  hearts  glow  with 
that  zeal  for  religion  with  which  those  truly  apostolical  men  were  in- 
flamed, who  labored,  with  so  much  solicitude,  to  recall  the  Irish  nation 
from  the  erroneous  celebration  of  Eiistf^r,  as  practisod  by  them  in  the 
sixth  and  seventh  ages  of  the  church,  and  at  lenath,  by  mucli  labor  and 
many  cares,  succeeded  in  establisiiing  in  your  ii^land  the  time  of  cele- 
bration so  strenuously  vindicated  by  our  predecessors,  Honorius  I. 
and  John  IV.  Now,  if  you  shall  show  yourselves  desirous  to  set  an 
example  of  docility  to  others,  and  as  your  wisdom  so  powerfully  enables 
you  to  instruct  the  people,  and  allay  the  rising  emotions  of  their 
minds,  we  are  fully  persuaded  that  the  benefit  of  einancipnfion 
being  once  granted,  the  long  and  stormy  periods,  during  which  religion 
has  suffered  a  persecution  so  todioiis  and  so  severe,  will  be  followed 


I; 


*  Ep.  167.   Edit.  Balerin. 

t  Cap.  non  debet  3,  de  consang.  ct  aifinit. 

t  In  Epist.  ad  Episcopus  Lucanio, 


u 


370       - 


APPENDIX. 


by  clayc^lbt'  peace,  replete  with  tranquillity  and  all  other  blessingv. 
Such  daysj 'venerable  brothers,  our  prayers  most  ardently  solicit  for 

Jfou,  entertaining,  as  we  do  towards  you  all,  the  tenderest  feelings  of 
ove  and  charity,  in  return  for  your  merits  towards  the  Catholic  church, 
and  for  the  zeal  and  reverence  you  have  ever  manifested  to  this  apos- 
tolical see.  In  pledge  whereof  and  with  the  strongest  expression  of 
our  dearest  regard,  we  hereby  bestow  on  you,  our  venerable  brothers, 
and  on  the  whole  Irish  people,  our  apostolical  benediction.  Dated 
Rome,  at  St.  Mary  Majors,  February  1, 1816,  in  the  sixteenth  year  of 
our  pontificate. 

PIUS  P.  P.  VII. 

Agreeable  to  the  manuscript,  so  far  as  above  given.' 

J.  Thos.  Troy,  R.  C.  of  Dublin. 


ither  blessingB. 
mtly  solicit  for 
rest  feelings  of 
>tholic  church, 
ted  to  this  apos- 
)t  expression  of 
erable  brothers, 
sdiction.  Dated 
ixteenth  year  of 

fS  P.  P.  VII. 


jn/ 

.  of  Dublin. 


APPENDIX,      .i^'itf'^  X^^!      371 

NO.  V.       ^^     ■ 


V  * 


CAREY'S    ANALYSIS    OF    THE    ALLEGED 
MASSACRE    OF   1641. 

'  From  the  Vindicin  Hibernics. 

tVas  there  really  a  Mcusacre  of  the' Protestants  in  1641  ?  —  Unparalleled 
Exaggeration.  —  More  Protestants  pretended  to  he  killed  than  there  ivere 
on  the  hland.  —  Temple.  —  Rapin.  —  Hume.  —  Clarendon.  —  Conclu- 
sive Evidence  drawn  from  Sir  William  Petty.  —  Cartels  and  Warner's 
Refutation  of  the  Legend. 

**  Falsehood  and  fraud  grow  up  in  every  soil, 
The  product  of  all  climes."  —  Addison.  .  ' 

Although  I  have  already  in  a  former  chapter  incidentally  touched 
on  the  numbers  said  to  be  massacred  by  the  Irish  in  the  insurrection 
of  1641, 1  think  it  proper  to  resume  the  subject,  and  go  into  it  some- 
what more  at  length,  as  it  is  a  cardinal  point  in  the  vindication  I  have 
undertaken.  "• 

In  order  to  proceed  correctly  in  the  investigation,  I  shall  let  the 
accusers  narrate  their  own  tales,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  is  th^  sum 
and  substance  of  the  allegations. 


u 


The  depopulations  in  this  province  of  Munster  do  well  near  equal 
those  of  the  whole  kingdom!:!"  —  Temple,  103. 
"  There  being,  since  the  rebellion  first  broke  out,  unto  the  time  of 
the  cessation  made  September  15, 1643,  which  was  not  full  two  years 
after,  above  300,000  British  and  Protestants  cruelly  murdered  in  cold 
blood !  destroyed  some  other  way,  or  expelled  out  of  their  habita- 
tions, according  to  the  strictest  conjuncture  and  computation  of  those 
who  seemed  best  to  understand  the  numbers  of  English  planted  in 
Ireland,  besides  those  few  which  fell  in  the  heat  offght  during  the 
war."  —  Idem,  6. 

"  Above  154,000  Protestants  were  massacred  in  that  kingdom  from 
the  23d  October  to  the  1st  March  following."  —  Rapin,  IX.  343. 
"  By  some  computations,  those  who  perished  by  all  these  cruelties 
are  supposed  to  be  150  or  200,000.  By  the  most  moderate,  and 
probably  the  most  reasonable  account,  they  are  made  to  amount  to 
forty  thousand !  if  this  estimation  itself  be  not,  as  is  usual  in  such 
cases,  somewhat  exaggerated ! "  —  Hume,  III.  545. 
"A  general  insurrection  of  the  Irish  spread  itself  over  the  whole 
country,  in  such  an  inlmman  and  barbarous  manner,  that  there  were 
forty  or  fifty  thousand  of  the  English  Protestants  murdered,  before 
they  suspected  themselves  to  be  in  any  danger^  or  could  provide  for  uieir 


372 


ACPEMOIX. 


Ski    4I   J 


"  defence,  by  drawing  together  into  towns  or  strong  houses."  —  Clar- 
endon's E.  II. 

That  "  Saul  slew  his  thousands,  and  David  his  tens  of  thousands," 
was,  in  "  olden  time,"  sung  by  the  women  of  Israel.  Every  Philistine 
was  magnified  into  ten,  every  ten  into  a  hnndred,  and  every  hundred 
into  a  thousand.  But  the  amplify!  ug'  powers  of  the  Jewish  women  fude 
into  insigpificance  when  compared  ^•.  th  those  of  the  An^lo-Hibernian 
writers.  Every  Englishman  tnat  fell  in  battle,  or  otherwise,  was  mur- 
dered. Every  man  was  magnified  into  a  hundred,  every  ten  into  a 
thousand,  and  every  hundred  into  teu  thousand. 

Such  a  spirit  of*^  exaggeration  has  prevailed,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  in  all  ages.  Even  in  co  mon  occurrences,  hardly  calculated 
to  excite  any  interest,  we  daily  find  that  the  statements  of  current 
events  are  so  highly  colored,  as  to  differ  full  as  much  from  the  reality 
as  the  countenance  of  a  meretricious  courtezan,  who  has  exhausted  her 
stores  of  carmine  and  white  lead,  differs  from  the  blooming  countenance 
of  an  innocent  country  damsel,  who  depends  wholly  on  the  pure  orna- 
ments of  beneficent  nature.  This  being  undeniably  the  case  where 
no  temptation  to  deception  exists,  how  dreadful  must  be  the  falsehood 
and  delusion  in  the  present  case,  where  ambition,  avarice,  malice,  big- 
otry, national  hatred,  and  all  the  other  dire  passions  that  assimilate 
men  to  demons,  were  goaded  into  activity ! 

In  all  other  cases  but  that  of  the  history  of  Ireland,  to  convict  a 
witness  of  gross,  palpable,  and  notorious  falsehood,  would  be  sufficient 
to  invalidate  the  whole  of  his  evidence ;  but  such  has  been  the  way- 
ward fate  of  that  puntry,  that  the  most  gross  and  manifest  forgeries, 
which  carry  their  own  condemnation  with  them,  are  received  by  the 
the  world  as  though  they  were 

"  Confirmation  strong  as  proofs  of  holy  writ." 

Or  when  some  are  found  too  monstrous  to  be  admitted,  their  falsehood 
and  absurdity  do  not  impair  the  public  credulity  in  the  rest  of  the  tales 
depending  on  the  same  authority. 

The  materials  for  Irish  stacistics,  at  that  early  period,  are  rare ;  a 
,  deficiency  which  involves  this  subject  in  considerable  difficulty.  Were 
correct  tables  of  the  population  of  Ireland  to  be  hsJfl,  the  task  would 
be  comparatively  easy ;  atid  I  could  put  down  all  those  tales  with  as 
much  ease  as  I  have  stamped  the  seal  of  flagrant  falsehood  on  the  many 
impostures  already  investigated. 

But  I  avail  myself  of  a  sound  rule,  to  employ  the  best  evidence  that 
the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  case  will  admit ;  and  there  are, 
/fortunately,  some  important  data  on  which  to  reason,  in  the  present 
instance,  and  to  shed  the  light  of  truth  on  this  intricate  question,  and 
dispel  the  dense  clouds  with  which  it  has  been  environed  by  fraud  and 
imposture. 

Sir  William  Petty,  the  ancestor  of  the  Lansdowne  family,  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  princely  fortune  in  the  depredations  perpetrated  on  the 
Irish  after  tiie  insurrection  of  1641.  Of  course,  he  had  no  temptation 
to  swerve  from  the  truth  in  their  favor ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  his 


APPENDIX. 

■   \ 


373 


."  — Clar- 


es 


if  thousands," 
ery  Philistine 
)Vory  hundred 
h  women  fade 
glo-Hibcrnian 
rise,  was  mur- 
sry  ten  into  a 

reater  or  less 
•dly  calculated 
nts  of  current 
am  the  reality 
exhausted  her 
g  countenance 
the  pure  orna- 
le  case  where 
B  the  falsehood 
je,  malice,  big- 
that  assimilate 

id,  to  convict  a 
lid  be  sufficient 
been  the  way- 
lifest  forgeries, 
eceived  oy  the 


their  falsehood 
rest  of  the  tales 

od,  are  rare;  a 
fficulty.  Were 
the  task  would 
50  tales  with  as 
)od  on  the  many 

3t  evidence  that 
and  there  are, 
in  the  present 
te  question,  and 
ed  by  fraud  and 

family,  laid  the 
rpetrated  on  the 
,d  no  temptation 
;rary,  it  was  his 


interest,  equally  with  the  other  possessors  of  the  estates  of  the  plun< 
dered  Irish,  to  exaggerate  their  real  crimes,  and  to  lend  the  countenance 
of  his  reputation  to  their  protended  ones.  Hence  his  r(5Btimony,  on  this 
ground,  and  as  a  contemporary,  cannot,  so  far  as  it  tends  to  exonerate 
those  upon  whose  ruin  he  raised  his  immense  estate,  be  excepted 
against  ny  the  enemies  of  the  Irish.  I  shall  therefore  freely  cite  him 
in  the  case ;  and  the  i-eader  will  at  once  perceive  to  what  an  extent 
delusion  has  been  carried  on  this  subject. 

He  states  the  aggregate  number  of  the  Protestants  who  perished  in 
eleven  years,  to  have  been  112,000,  [Petty,  18,]  of  whom  "two  thirds 
were  cut  off  by  war,  plague,  and  famine."  It  is  obvious  to  the  meanest 
capacity,  if,  of  112,000,  the  whole  number  that  fell  in  that  space  of 
time,  two  thirds  were  cut  off  "by  war,  plague,  and  famine,"  that  th*'  -^ 
who  fell  out  of  war,  in  eletJcn  years,  were  only  37,000 !  I  hope  to  p«o  v» 
that  even  this  statement,  so  comparatively  moderate,  is  most  exirt  va- 
gantly  beyond  the  trn'  ii. 

Sir  William  cont         Mimself,  beyon  i  the  power  of  redemption. 

'    ••  Mark  a  plain  talo  shall  put  him  down," 

He  bequeathed  to  posterity  some  statistical  tables,  which  throw  con- 
siderable light  on  this  subject.  They  are  very  meagre,  it  is  true ;  but, 
meagre  as  they  are,  I  believe  there  are  no  others ;  at  all  events,  I  know 
of  none,  and  must  therefore  avail  myself  of  them. 

He  informs  us,  that  the  population  of  Ireland,  in  1641,  was  1,466,000,''* 
and  that  the  relative  proportion  of  the  Protestants  to  the  Catholics 
was  as  two  to  eleven;!  of  course,  it  follows,  that  the  population 
was  thus  divided:  about  1,241,000  Roman  Catholics,  and  225,000 
Protestants. 

From  this  conclusion  there  is  no  appeal. 

The  supplies  of  people  from  England  and  Scotland,  until  after  the 
final  defeat,  capture,  condemnation,  and  death  of  Charles  I.,  were  in- 
considerable ;  \  and  surely  it  is  impossible  for  a  rational  boing  to 
believe,  that  out  of  225,000  there  could  have  been  112,000  destroyed, 
and  the  residue  been  al)le  to  baffle  and  defeat  the  insurgents,  who  com- 
prised the  great  mass  of  the  nation.  It  will  therefore,  I  trust,  be 
allowed,  as  an  irresistible  conclusion,  that  Sir  William  Petty's  calcu- 
lation, although  so  far  more  moderate  than  any  of  the  "  tales  of  terror  " 
quoted  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  is  most  extravagantly 
overrated,  probably  trebled,  quadrupled,  or  quintupled ;  and  must,  of 
absolute  necessity,  be  extravagantly  false. 

But  even  admitting  it  to  be  correct,  what  an  immense  difference 


*  "  This  shows  there  were,  in  1641,  1,466,000  people."  —  I&trf. 

t  For  the  present  I  admit  this  proportion ;  as,  however  exaggerated 
the  number  of  the  Protestants  may  be,  it  does  not  aifect  the  point  at 
issue.  But,  from  various  circumstanees,  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  was 
one  Protestent  to  eleven  lioman  Catholics. 

X  More  Protestants,  it  is  highly  probable,  removed  from  Ireland  during 
the  progress  of  the  war,  than  the  number  of  soldiers  who  were  sent 
thither  from  England. 

.    32 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


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u 


874 


APPENDIX. 


betweea  37,000  in  eleven  yean,  and  the  namben  so  confidently 
stated  by  die  various  writers  of  trish  history !  What  astonishment 
must  be  excited  by  Burton's  300,000  in  a  few  months;  Temple's 
300,000  in  less  than  two  years ;  May's  300,000  in  one  mouth ;  War- 
wick's 100,000  in  one  week;  or  Rapm's  40,000  in  a  few  days  I  Surely 
there  is  not,  in  the  histoiy  of  the  world,  any  parallel  case  of  such  gross, 

J»alpable,  shockinff,  and  abominable  deception.  Can  language  be 
bund  strong  or  bold  enough  to  mark  the  dishonor  of  those  who 
knowingly  pn^Nigated  such  falsehoods,  or  the  folly,  or  neglect,  or  wick- 
edness of  those  who  adopted  and  gave  them  currency  ?  Their  names 
ought  to  be  held  up  as  "a  hissing  and  reproach,"  to  deter  others  from 
following  in  their  loul  and  loathsome  track  of  calumny  and  deception. 
On  the  subject  of  the  number  of  victims  of  the  pretended  massacre, 
the  observations  of  Carte  are  so  judicious  and  unanswerable  that  they 
would  be  sufficient,  independent  of  the  other  evidence  I  have  produced, 
to  put  down  forever  those  miserable  legends  about  so  many  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  the  Protestants  cut  off  in  a  few  we^ks,  or  months,  or 
years,  and  to  stamp  on  the  foreheads  of  their  authors  the  broad  seal  of 
outrageous  imposture.  He  states,  that  the  extravagant  numbers  asserted 
to  b%  massacred,  were  "  more  than  there  were  of  English,  at  that  time, 
in  all  Ireland."  —  Carte,  1. 177. 

*'  It  is  certain  that  the  great  body  of  the  English  was  settled  in  Mun- 
**  ster  and  Leinster,  where  very  few  murders  were  committed ;  and  <:hat. 
'*  in  Ulster,  which  was  the  msmd  scene  of  the  massacre,  there  wero 
^  above  100,000  Scots,  who,  before  the  general  plantation  of  it,  had 
^  settled  in  great  numbers  in  the  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim,  and 
**  new  shoals  of  them  had  come  over  upon  the  plantation  of  the  six 
**  escheated  counties ;  and  they  were  so  very  powerful  therein,  that  the 
'*  Irish,  either  ovt  of  fear  of  their  numbers,  or  some  other  politic  reason, 
<*  spared  those  of  that  n/tUion,  making  prochunation,  on  pain  ofdeaJOi,  that 
**  no  Scotthnan  should  he  molested  tn  body,  goods,  or  lands,  whilst  Uiey 
**  raged  with  so  much  cruelty  against  the  English."  —  Ibid. 

"  It  cannot,  there^re,  reasonably  be  presumed  that  there  were  at 
"  most  above  30,000  English  souls,  of  all  ages  and  sexes,  in  Ulster  at 
"  that  time;  and  of  these,  as  appears  by  the  lords  justices'  letter,  there 
*'  were  MoemZ  thousands  got  safe  to  Dublin,  and  were  subsisted  therefor 
**  many  months  qflenjoards,  batides  6000  women  and  children,  which 
**  Captain  Mervyn  saved  in  Fermanagh ;  and  others  that  got  safe  to 
"  Derry,  Colerain,  and  Carrickfergus,  and  went  from  those  and  other 
"  ports  into  England."  —  Idem.  ' 

It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  the  latter  part  of  the  above  quotations 
with  the  rest ;  a  case,  as  we  have  repeatedly  stated,  that  incessantly 
occurs  in  Irish  histories.  The  author  informs  us,  on  rational  grounds, 
that  there  were  "not  more  than  20,000  English  in  Ulster ;"  that  "»et)- 
erid  thousand  got  safe  to  Dublin;"  that  "6000  wonien  and  children 
tvere  saved  in  Fermanagh ;"  and  that  "  others  got  safe  to  Derry,  Cole- 
rain,  and  Carrickr^rgus."  These  «ll-important  and  conclusive  facts 
he  connects  with  a  statement  of  "  the  extreme  cruelty  with  which  Uie 
insurgents  raged  against  the  English,"  and  with  a  notice  of  Hbo  **  dismal 


APPENDIX. 


375 


80  confidently 
b  natonishment 
the;  Templets 

mouth;  War- 
r  days  I  Sorely 
)  of  such  gross, 
1  lanffaage  be 

of  those  who 
sglect,  or  wick- 
'  Their  names 
iter  others  from 

and  deception, 
inded  massacre, 
arable  that  thev 

have  produced, 
many  hundreds 
3,  or  months,  or 
le  broad  seal  of 
umbers  asserted 
19^  at  that  timet 

\  ■ 
settled  in  Mun- 
mitted ;  and  that. 
icref  there  wero 
tation  of  it,  had 
wd  Antrim,  and 
ation  of  the  six 
therein,  that  the 
er  politic  reason^ 
ainofdeaihythat 
<,ndsj  whilst  they 
Ibid. 

t  there  were  at 
xes,  in  Ulster  at 
ues'  letter,  there 
uhtiated  there/or 
children^  which 
that  got  safe  to 
those  and  other 


ibove  quotations 
that  incessantly 
ational  grounds, 
^er;"  that"««)- 
ien  and  children 

to  Derry,  Cole- 
conclusive  facts 

with  which  the 
e  of  the  "difmoi 


wene  of  the  nuusaenf**  the  subjects  of  which  massacze  are  not  very 
easily  found,  and,  at  all  events,  could  not  have  been  very  numerous ; 
for,  let  us  add  together  "several  thousands,**  and  "60(J0,"  and  the 
** others"  who  "  got  safe"  into  the  specified  towns,  where  there  were 
numerous  garrisons ;  where,  of  course,  in  a  time  of  violence  and  com- 
motion the  inhabitants  of  the  circumjacent  country  would  naturally 
seek  refuge,  and  where,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  suppose,  that  "the 
others,"  v^o  thus  "got  safe,"  might  have  amounted  to  some  thousands : 
let  us  then  deduct  the  aggregate  from  20,000,  the  total  number  of  Eng- 
lish, and  we  shall  find  a  slender  remainder.  But  the  plain  fact  is,  that 
the  writers  on  this  subject  are  so  haunted  by  tlie  idea  of  a  massacre, 
that  although  it  rests  on  the  sandy  foundation  of  forgery  and  perjury, 
as  shall  be  fiiUy  proved  in  the  sequel,  and  althoygh  many  of  their  own 
statements,  in  we  most  unequivocal  manner,  give  it  the  lie  direct,  their 
minds  cannot  be  divested  of  the  terrific  object  These  passages  from 
Carte  furnish  a  strong  case  in  point.  •  The  most  ardent  friend  of  Ire- 
land could  not  desire  a  niuch  more  complete  proof  of  t.he  fallacy  of  the 
accounts  of  the  pretended  massacre  than  is  here  given  by  this  author 
himself,  who,  nevertheless,  wonderful  to  tell !  appears  to  resist  the  evi- 
dence of  his  own  facts,  and  to  be  blind  to  the  obvious  inference  to 
which  they  inevitably  lead. 

Ferdinando  Warner,  a  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England,  appears 
to  have  been  the  only  writer  who  has  gone  into  any  elaborate  investi- 
gation of  the  legendary  tales  of  the  pretended  massacre;  and  his  views 
of  the  subject  well  deserve  the  most  serious  attention  of  the  reader. 
After  stating  the  uncertainty  of  the  accounts,  and  the  consequent  difiS- 
culty  of  making  an  exact  estimate,  he  pronounces  a  strong  and  une- 
quivocal sentence  of  condemnation  on  the  Munchausen  tales  we  are 
combating ;  and  avers,  that 

"It  19  ea^  enough  to  ttemonstraie  t?ie  falsehood  of  the  relation  of  every 
"  Protestant  historian  of  this  rebellion.^  —  Warner,  296. 

He  proceeds  to  render  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  grounds  on 
which  this  statement  rests. 

"  To  any  one  who  considers  how  thirUy  Ireland  was  at  thai  time  peopled 
"  hu  Protestants,  and  the  province  of  Ulster  particularly,  uohere  was  the 
"  chitf  scene  of  the  massttcre,  those  relations  upon  the  face  of 

"  THEM  APPEAR   INCREDIBLE."  —  Ibid. 

"  Setting  aside  all  opinions  and  calculations  in  this  aiFair,  which, 
"  besides  ^eir  uncertainty,  are  without  any  precision  as  to  the  space  of 
"  time  in  which  the  murders  were  committed,  the  eviuence  from  the 
"depositions  in  the  manuscript  above  mentioned  stands  thus:  The 
"  number  of  people  killed,  upon  positive  evidence,  collected  in  two 
"  years  after  the  insurrection  broke  out,  adding  them  all  together, 
"  amounts  Only  to  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  nine ;  on  the  reports 
"  of  other  Protestants,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  nineteen  more ;  and 
"  on  the  report  of  some  of  the  rebels  themselves,  a  further  number  of 
"  three  hundred :  the  whole  making  four  thousand  and  twenty-eight, 
"  Besides  these  murders,  there  is,  in  the  same  collection,  evidence,  on 
"  the  report  of  f>thers,  of  eight  thousand  killed  by  ill  usage ;  and  if  we 


376 


APPEI9DIX. 


"  should  allow  that  the  craelties  of  the  Irish  out  of  war  extended  to 
**  these  numbers,  which,  considering  the  nature  of  several  of  the  depo- 
**  sitions,  I  think  in  my  conadtnce  wt  cnnnoty  yet  to  be  impartial  we 
"  must  allow  that  there  is  no  jtretence  for  laying  a  greater  number  to 
'*  th^r  charge.  This  account  is  also  corroborated  by  a  letter,  which  I 
**  copied  out  of  the  council  books  at  Dublin,  written  on  the  fifth  of 
**  May,  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty-two,-  ten  years  after  the  beginning  of 
*'  the  rebellion,  from  the  Parliament  commissioners  in  Ireland  to  the 
''^English  Parliament  After  exciting  them  to  further  severity  against 
**  ibe  Irish,  as  being  afraid  '  their  behavior  towards  this  people  may 
*'  never  sufficiently  avenge  their  murders  and  massacres,  and  lest  the 
Parliament  might  shortly  be  in  pursuance  of  a  speedy  settlement  of 
this  nation,  and  thereby  some  tender  concessions  might  be  con- 
«  eluded,*  the  commissioners  tell  them  that  it  appears  ^besides  e^ht 
*'  hxmdred  forty-e^hi  Jamilies,  there  were  kUlecl,  mr^edj  bumedj  and' 
*^  drowntdy  six  thotuand  and  sixty-two.*"  —  Warner,  397. 

Thus  I  close  this  subject  with  stating,  that  these  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands are  reduced  by  Carte  to  20,000,  less  "  several  thousands "  and 
**  6000  women  and  children,"  and  "others ;"  and  by  Warner  to  about 
12,000,  of  whom  only  4028  were  murdered,  a  large  portion  of  which 
detail,  "  in  his  conscience  "  he  cannot  allow !  Would  it  not  be  an  in- 
sult to  the  reader  to  offer  anoUier  word  to  prove  the  utter  falsehood 
of  all  the  terrific  statements  given  of  the  subject,  whereby  the  world 
has  been  so  long  and  so  grossly  deceived  ? 


I 


'  %^ 


r  extended  to 
1  of  the  depo- 
)  impartial  we 
iter  nwnher  to 
letter,  which  I 
\n  the  fifth  of 
>  beginning  of 
Ireland  to  the 
^verity  against 
is  people  may 
fs,  and  lest  the 
'  settlement  of 
ni^ht  be  con- 
^heaides  e^M 
{,  hwmedf  and' 
297. 

dreds  of  thou- 
lousands"  and 
'^arner  to  about 
ittion  of  which 
it  not  be  an  in- 
iitter  falsehood 
ireby  the  world 


•    %^ 


